Allen stared at the blood as it dripped down his shirt. What used to be the little girl Chelie hung in his hands. Her eyes, pierced and blue, were staring up at Allen like a dead doll. He didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't even blink. He didn't know what was happening until she was there…dead in his arms. Allen stared back at her whitening in horror, not knowing weather or not to hurl right then and there or cry over the loss of a precious, innocent human being. Kanda was the first to react.

"Idiot! Drop it!" he barked, quickly scurrying towards Allen's side and swatting the girl form his hands. Allen dropped her, still in shock. What just happened…was the only words surging through his mind. What just happened…He suddenly thought of what Kanda just said and thrust his head upwards.

"How dare you?!" he seethed, his white, shocked feelings changing into a fierce angry red. Anger boiled inside of Allen as Kanda didn't twitch at the sound of Allen's unusual ferocity. Allen breathed heavily as he raged. "How dare you call her an 'it'?!"

"That doesn't matter right now!" he barked again, grabbing Allen's shoulders and pushing him to the door. Allen felt like someone had ran him over with a wagon with the way that Kanda pushed.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Allen cried, trying to shake off Kanda, but he couldn't. He kicked his legs until finally, Kanda shoved him through the door and into the hallway. When Kanda finally let go, Allen ran into the hallway and fell to the ground, his legs beneath him barley sturdy enough to keep him standing. He held the wall with shaking hands as he tried to keep himself from brawling out onto the floor. What just happened…what just happened…He hid his face behind his hair as he tried to valiantly not to cry.

Kanda remained silent as he shut the door behind him. He grabbed Mugen, rubbed off some blood with his safely gloved hand, and looked at Allen, who was on the floor. For a moment, in a split second of his grouchy, hard-faced life, he pitited Allen. He remembered the way that he held her hand as they walked through the alleyways or how he was carrying her carefully through the house. Allen really seemed to care for the girl…and now she…she was…

"Don't talk to me, ever again in my life." Allen muttered through a barley stabled voice. Kanda snapped out of his second of a thought and looked back down at Allen. He was no longer grasping the floor, but sitting up straight and looking at the end of the hall. Kanda shifted in his stance and smirked, behind Allen's turned head.

"Get over it Walker . Anything dead in my book is 'it'. Deal with it and stop crying like a baby." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Allen ,he knew, would be throwing his head around shocked and then would come up with some smart thing to say back to him. Then, he would stand up and either scream at him or punch him, or just stare at him evilly until Kanda decided to get out. Then, they would fight the whole mission about the stupid comment, and Kanda would conclude that Allen hated him even more than he did the day before, which would give him complete satisfaction…

Except for…Kanda started to think. He bit his lip as he remembered the night he was alone with Allen in the medical office. That one time when he actually let his body do the one thing he thought he'd never stomach himself to do. He tilted his head to the right. Except for the fact that now…I'm…

Even though Kanda was lost in his own conclusions, what came next surprised him more. He left his last statement hanging for Allen to make his move but…Allen never made any. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw that Allen was still staring at the end of the hall, his hands palm up in his lap. He seemed dazed, even from the view from behind. Kanda waited a bit more, but Allen still didn't say anything. He actually got irritated. It was like what he said didn't phase him. Like it was never said. He habitually grabbed Mugen and felt his thumb over the top of the hilt. Maybe a surprise attack? He waited some more…and a little more…

…and Allen still said nothing.

Okay. Now it was freaking him out. Allen was sitting there for a good 5 minutes without saying anything. No remarks, no movement, not even any breathing from where he sat.

Kanda then quickly ran around Allen. Had the virus already came to him? Was he okay?! Oh God, was he already dead? He almost lost his footing when he came around to see Allen look curiously up to him. Kanda stood there stiffly and halted. …He's not dead. He thought, sulking at the thought that he just over-reacted. It was so out of character for him, it was almost scary. I can't believe that…Kanda huffed and looked the other way, throwing back his head in emphasis. Allen was just being a freak to scare him. Idiot.

But in reality, Allen was just thinking about his life. He remembered Chelie's soft breath on his neck, only moments before she died…about five minutes ago. It scared him that something so deadly could happen so quickly to someone so innocent. He was thinking about the rest of his life and how the Fourteenth might use that fear against him. How many lives would go innocently to waste like that for him? Would people perishing in his life be his fate, or would people perishing by his hand be his fate? He thought of the words Cross had said to him, on that fateful day, before he died. Or supposedly died. He knew that Cross wasn't dead, somehow. His master wasn't that easy to kill. Which brought him back about the killing…How much blood would be shed until the nightmare was over?

From seeing Kanda whisk around him so suddenly, so worriedly, only added more confusion to his thoughts. Why did Kanda seem so scared? He saw the fright in his eyes, that cold wide stare, and stared into it deeply. It looked sheepish and curious, but really, Allen was trying to look into Kanda. Please, tell me what your thinking…he thought. Please sort this all out and help me.

After a moment of gazing and silence, Allen finally spoke.

"When is it going to stop?" he asked, this time to Kanda.

Kanda heard the words and waited a moment, thinking about his answer deeply. He knew what Allen was talking about. This wasn't a time to speak in sarcasm. "Whenever it's time." He answered, hoping that would end the conversation.

"Is this all that's open for me? Blood? Is this my fate?"

Kanda stared at the floor dramatically. He let the silence roam while he thought of his answer. Allen was talking about his future. He knew that he had been thinking about it for the last couple of months, considering that his master had told him that he was the Fourteenth and then just died. He could only imagine the hell that he was going through. Kanda had been through pain, suffering, and tragedies all his life, but petty compared to what Allen was going through. It almost seemed like everything was great for him- He finally found the job he was looking for, friends to accompany it, and a home forever…and then suddenly the Fourteenth came into his life. Kanda slipped a hand into his jacket pocket and continued staring at the floor. The coldness of the room was starting to chill him over.

Then, he glanced at Allen. He was shivering on the floor. His head was hung over his shoulders, and his hand was placed on his arm to find the warmth that never seemed to come. His hair was stained in red, along with his white gloves…and even his neck. Kanda realized the hazards and pushed off from the wall that he was leaning on and came over to Allen. Softly placing his hand on Allen's shoulder, he left it there to feel the pulse. He's still alive, Yu. He thought, keeping his hand there. Allen lifted his head and turned it around, not enough to look at Kanda in the eye but across to the wall. He closed his eyes and leaned his head towards Kanda's placed hand, which made Kanda self-conscious. What is he doing, laying on my hand? He habitually wanted to immediately take it off, but he left it there out of pure curiosity.

"Y'know, Kanda…I never know what goes on in your mind." Allen started with a desperate voice, keeping his eyes closed. His voice constantly changed octaves as he spoke. Allen didn't realize the logic in the situation. It was almost like he wasn't awake, but rather in a tranced state. He was just so sick and tired of the pain and suffering that was going on around him, he was breaking up from inside. He couldn't hold himself together much longer. So in that hallway, he spoke once more to the man he supposedly hated, open hearted and desperately wandering aimlessly with his words ."I always see you doing rash things, rash gestures, rash speech…" Kanda stared down at him unbelievingly. God, what's up with him? Behind Allen and looking down, he could see that the blood was starting to dry. He needed to get him out of here, now. But what was wrong with him? He seemed so raw with his feelings right now, he didn't want to move him. "But you know what?" Allen continued, almost laughing when he did. "Through all of that fighting and bickering and little tiffs…in the end…I look past the anger and, oddly enough…" He smiled. "I understood you."

Kanda froze.

His heart was beating hard in his chest.

The white feeling at the pit of his stomach roared into a crashing tidal wave, pummeling down through his veins and eventually his heart. He felt frozen in place, like the place where his feet stood would never move like a statue. His heart skipped a beat as Allen sighed into unconsciousness. Only out of reaction did Kanda catch Allen as he limply fell into his arms. As many other things that he'd heard in the past months, he couldn't believe what Allen had just said. I understood you, he thought again, Allen's English feminine voice ringing through his head. I understood you…I understood you…

Even as the still wet blood creeped onto Kanda's leather jacket, he still stared at Allen with wide eyes. His mouth tasted the blood in the air, but it remained open. He held Allen in his hands, and in that moment, he felt water on his face.

Surprised, he jerked his head up and wiped it away with his clean sleeve.

"God Allen…" he growled, sniffing as he did. "What the fuck are you doing to me…?"

Swallows chirped on that odd night, swinging through the air like kites in the summer. Kanda carried unconscious Allen on his back, walking through town to find a phone so that he could call Komui. Even though the moment back in Chelie's house was…Kanda tsked. I can't believe I cried. …moving, Allen was in a critical condition. Blood was splattered all over him. On his skin. On his arm. On his neck. He needed help from this disease. He wasn't about to let Allen die like this. Not now.

It seemed so stupid how careless Kanda was. He didn't even flinch a muscle to swat that virus-infection of a girl from Allen's hands before she died. He somehow knew it from the start, but his pride got in the way. Let Allen learn from his own stupid curiousity. He thought. Now he wish he had done something. Allen might die. He thought about the situation seriously. Allen...dying...He didn't like the sound of it at all. Whenever he thought about those words, he cringed, and somthing inside of him roared ferociously, like it would do whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen. This must be a side-effect or somthing. Kanda thought, dismissing the feeling. But in all reality, Kanda was worried. He was extremely worried. He didn't want Allen to die. It was too sudden for him. Allen was so young. Kanda was so lost. He needed Allen. Kanda was just to stubborn to realize that.

Thinking into his thoughts a little more further, he remembered what Komui had said about Edmund's Touch…

"Yes, like someone's heart breaking. Although, the virus is very strange. The eerie thing about it is that it only happens between lovers"

Kanda thought about Chelie. She was a small girl, no more than the age of 6, but she certaintly wasn't in love with anyone. Than again, Kanda's sarcastic side started to spit, You would know all about that, huh Kanda? He growled to himself. Shut up you shitty excuse of a conscience. Getting back to subject, why would Chelie have died? Could she just have been a mistake of a death? A random tragedy? A missed target? Maybe the virus was aiming for someone instead, and accidentally killed her instead. He didn't let the sad feelings creep up onto his personality. He scoffed. Life happens.

Seeing an inn to his right, he made a sharp turn and walked up the steps alone since he'd seen no one walking along the streets since God knows when. Everyone seemed to have deserted. Opening the door with his free hand, he walked right in to see an old lady manning the front desk. She smiled at first, but then when she saw Allen's unconscious bloody body slung over Kanda, she froze in fear. Her white hair just seemed to get whiter.

"H-how may I he-help you?" she asked in a stuttering old timer's tone.

Kanda reached into his pocket and flipped out his Black Order badge. The women jerked and nodded quickly.

"Oh! Oh! Certaintly, the Black Order! Of course you're here. Oh, oh goodness me, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first. How stupid of me! Why, I was just so astonished when I saw that white-haired boy over your shoulder and all bloody! I mean, I could have sworn he looked like he had died like the most of us, but then I thought, why would you be carrying around a dead body? Oh goodness I am so terribly-"

"Woman!" Kanda barked, slamming his hand on the desk. She jumped so quickly her glasses fell off her face. He glared at her with full intensity. "Give me a fucking room. I'm not in the mood to pretend like I care about what you have to say."

Scared and skittish, she quickly grasped a key on the rack next to her and gave it to Kanda. He took it, walking up the wooden steps and left her. Allen's head bobbed as he walked up, and he made sure he didn't bump him into anything. Why is it I'm always cleaning up after you, you twit? He said, glowering in his thoughts. No use to talking. He would just be wasting his breath. It wasn't like Allen could hear what he had to say to be angry over it. Kanda sighed. I'm thinking too much. My head hurts.

Walking down the hallway and to the left, he opened one of the inn doors and walked inside. Two beds, a bathroom, a window, and a table. Pretty simple. Liking the room already, he walked to one of the beds and kicked off all the sheets. He would need them later. Using his feet, he kicked the clean sheets onto his bed, which he claimed, and sat Allen upright against the wall. He made sure he had used at least one sheet to hold Allen's back so that there wasn't any blood on the wall. Not that he cared, he just didn't want anyone to die from sleeping there. Taking a moment and taking a good deep breath for the first time that day, he thought about what he should do next. Call Komui, was the first thing that popped inside his head. He looked around for a phone. None. Great.

Walking down the stairs, he met that woman halfway up. They stared at each other awkwardly as he waited for her to speak. Fidgeting, she began. "Oh, uhm, there's a man on the phone for you."

Kanda perked up.

"Something like…Coo-moo-ee?" she said, trying to sound it out. "So foreign."

Kanda quickly walked down the stairs. He didn't hesitate walking behind the counter and picking up the phone that was lying there, corded to the wall. He held it to his hear and spoke.

"How do you know where I'm staying at?" Kanda asked.

"Kaaandaaa!" Komui squealed. Kanda sighed in distress. Good old Komui. Always kept up his annoying self. "Kanda, buddy, how've you been doing in the East Atlantic ?"

"Shut up and get the point. I have an issue that I need to clean up."

"Ah…Well…" there was a short pause. "That's what I wanted to call you about."

Kanda dismissed the eerie question of how Komui knew where he was. Guess those Finders were on my tail. He assumed.

"Allen…" Komui started.

"…is screwed." Kanda finished.

"Yes, yes. I heard what had happened immediately after the fact via golem. How much is he infected with?"

Kanda held the phone in his hands and found himself holding his breath. He furrowed his brows and began to speak. Weird.

"It got on his neck and hands. Even though they're gloved, he was holding the thing. His hair and chin is pretty much red."

There was yet another pause on the other end of the phone.

"Do you think he might have consumed any?"

"He had his trap shut. Though he might have gasped. There's a good possibility that he might of. He's such a twit."

"Send over a sample of the blood via golem. Looks like you're going to spend a few more weeks there."

Kanda groaned. "God…"

"Oh, and Kanda?" Komui continued. Kanda listened. "Try not to kill Allen faster than he's already dying. He's in a critical state now. That virus is vicious and serious. It won't stop for someone like him. If you throw him the wrong way, it might just kill him. Really."

He sighed. "Yeah, sure."

Just as Kanda was about to hang up the phone, he heard Komui yell 'Wait!' into the receiver. He grudgingly held the phone back up to his hear.

"What."

"I heard that there was something eerie about the situation that you were in. There were no details…could you fill me in?"

Kanda thought for a moment. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He said. "Again." He added.

"Something about a girl."

He immediately perked up. Right. The girl. "Yeah, the victim was a girl. She was little, no more than 6. You said something about love or whatnot…"

Komui hummed on the other side. He was thinking. "Interesting…."

"Are you done? I have a mess to clean up."

"Right, right…but…are you sure she wasn't just a short woman?" Komui asked. The comment annoyed him, but he answered without screaming into the phone.

"No. Absolutely not. Allen could pick her up. Her voice was pre-mature, and she could barley make her height to my hip. She was no doubt a little girl."

Komui cleared his throat on the phone. "Alright then. I'll add that to the records. First child victim. Do you know where she might have gotten if from?"

"Yeah, her dead mother. She was sobbing over it because she died of the disease. Everyone in her family was pushing up daisies too. Not surprised she'd be infected."

"Got it. Thanks."

And the receiver was dead.

Kanda was a little disappointed he couldn't hang up the phone on Komui. Placing it back on the phone box, he walked back up the stairs, past the peeping Tom of an old woman who was zoning in on the conversation,

"Save it." Was all Kanda said as he walked past her,

And went back into their room. Allen was still there, lying against the wall. He rummaged through his pockets until he found scared shivering Timcampy fluttering about. He grabbed it tightly and stared at it.

"Now see here, you little Allen-chibi-twit, I'm goanna get the blood over to the Black Order and you're going to help me do it. Don't give me any fucking problems, got it?"

Timcampy nodded quickly.

"Good. Now get some blood off of Allen."

Tim quickly went towards Allen, rubbed his tail across his neck, and flew towards the window. Kanda opened it and let Tim out.

"Good freakin' riddance." He muttered, seeing it fly off in the distance. He shut the window closed and looked back over to Allen.

"And then there was one."

Night crept into Kanda and Allen's hotel room as the shadows off the walls began to grow longer. Allen, now clean and 'purified' (as the old woman put it after giving him a short bath), was sleeping soundly and correctly in his sheeted and clean bead. The white of this hair matched with the white sheets on his bed, although Kanda could of sworn he saw a difference. He sat on his claimed bed, across from Allen, and watched his soft breathing as his chest rose up and down. He couldn't help but stare at him and worry. What was going to happen to him now? He was cleaned but…how much blood was…?

He propped his elbow onto his knee and leaned in closer. He'd been out for 7 hours now. And all Kanda could or would do was stare at him. For the most part. He had tried to avert his nervous attention to Mugen, to clean her from hilt to tip, but he just got reminded of Allen again and again and would end up staring at him again. Creeper…Kanda thought to himself, criticizing his own habitual actions. Being in love with Allen was weird.

How is that for you, eh chap? Kanda's conscience piped. You end up loving the boy you hate. Real smart. Kanda twitched.

He's a man, not a boy, he thought back, folding his hands together across his legs. He looked away from Allen to think.

Whether he be a man or a boy, he still doesn't care for you. He hates you just as much as you hate him.

He sighed. I know, he answered back, looking down towards his fingers. But, who said I ever had to explain to him what I thought about him? There's no fucking rule saying that you have to...confess…Kanda stopped his train of thought and covered his reddening face with his hand.

"This is embarrassing…"he said aloud between clenched teeth.

I bet it is. Good. Serves you right, you lover-heeled bastard, the conscience remarked. Kanda lifted his head up from his hand and looked back at Allen.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? It's not like I can change it."

There was silence.

"Right, because…this fucked feeling won't change, no matter how much I push this brat away. I'm stuck like this."

…you realize that this idiot will get in the way of your goal, right?

"Yes."

…and your okay with that?

Kanda froze, looking over Allen one last time. His white, silvery hair posed against the pillow beneath him, his pale, clear face sleeping in peace, his round, curved lips breathing with all the calmness of the world...Kanda got up off his bed and sat next to Allen's, propping himself up against the wall. He turned to look at Allen, his head close to his own. Staring at him more closely, he got a moment to think to himself seriously if what he had been thinking over the past two months was really love. There was no drumming heartbeat, as was normal for everybody else. There was no going out of his way to do something for him, because he found it unnecessary. There was no letters, no rescues, no gifts, no conversations…because Allen was capable of doing his own fucking job! All Kanda knew was that he couldn't spend a day without wondering what Allen was doing, or what he was going to fight about with him that day, or wonder about where Allen might be screwing around and not doing his job. He couldn't get him off his mind, and though he hated him, Allen didn't ever say that he wasn't willing to be with him. Sure, he might have said he didn't prefer it, but whenever he did he didn't scream and complain about it. He took his job seriously, as expected of someone in his situation.

But…Allen was different. He was more than just some Fourteenth's body. He was more than just some orphaned child. He was more than just some "Chosen One" or traitor or boy or friend... He was more important than all of those to Kanda.

And that's when Kanda knew.

That he was, in fact, in love with Allen Walker.

"I'm insane." Kanda thought, as he got up from where he was sitting and sat on Allen's bed. He put his hand on the metal banister and another over Allen's body as he crept closer to Allen's face. His face wasn't hot as he hovered over Allen's sleeping body peering over his steady breathing. "I'm insane, but...I'm okay with that." He leaned in closer, his bangs dangling over his mesmerized eyes. Closing them, he finally leaned towards Allen's lips and held the back of his head, holding him with intensity.

And all it took to scew up that moment was a surprise knock on the door.

And Lenalee walking right on in.