Sorry it took a while! Also, the story I mentioned, NiteTime, will probably be the story I write after this part of the Trilogy or after I finish the next part, Soul. I'm currently writing it on paper.

I'm not replying to reviews in this chapter, but thank you for them! They mean a lot!

The Lycanthrope Trilogy: Heart

Chapter 14: Blue

"Why am I always the babysitter?" Kanda asked to no one in particular, Secret on his shoulders. The two-month-old smiled and continued to steer him with the long strands of hair that frame his face. "Because Uncle K's yippee!"

"Yippee?" I ask. Kanda rolls his eyes and walks around the island for the fifth time. "Her word for 'fun', I believe."

I ask, "Secret, am I yippee?"

Secret paused, her ears laid back in concentration. "Moyashi is grasshopper!"

"That's right, Secret. Moyashi is grasshopper," Kanda said before he walked into the boys' wing due to Secret's amazing steering abilities.

"So not only am I a Moyashi, I'm a grasshopper, too?" I ask as I follow.

Secret shakes her head, short ponytail swishing. "No, you're grasshopper, not a grasshopper, silly."

I blank. "Huh?"

"So grasshopper is now an adjective, a synonym of 'short'," Kanda said.

"Great."

He asks, "Secret, where are we going?"

"Don't know," she says and pulls Kanda's hair back, her motion for 'stop'. "Feels weird here."

"That's the smell of men," I say.

"She said 'feels', not 'smells'." He paused and tilted his head up. "Geez, the dogs need showers."

"What do you think is weird, Secret?" I ask. She doesn't reply and pushes Kanda's head forward. He begins to walk again. When we get to the end of the tunnel, Secret climbs down Kanda's back like a cat. She walks to the door and sniffs. "Weird here."

I tilt my head. "The storage room? That's just full of not stolen items from the store. Mostly feminine products and toiletries."

"Weird here," Secret repeats.

"Is the storage room haunted?" I ask playfully. However, Kanda opened the door and twitched his ears. "Sniff around. Your nose is better than mine."

I do this. "Nothing but dust and soap."

Kanda nods as we exit the room. The bluenette glances back at the girl in the dark room. "Come on, Secret."

She scampered on all fours out of the room and on to Kanda's shoulder's again. As we make our way back to the main area of the Order, Secret said, "Blue eyes."

I glance at her. "Huh?"

She pointed at me. "Big blue eyes."

Kanda looked at me. "No, they're silver."

"Kitty with big blue eyes," she says. I shrug. "Maybe it's code for something?"

He nods and walks into the kitchen. And circles the island. Again.

Twenty minutes later, after Lenalee had fed Secret, Kanda put her back on his shoulders. "Must I?"

"Yes, you must," Lenalee said and pushed him towards his room. "You have a hundred and one colors of nail polish under the vanity and I know it."

"Okay, okay, okay," he grumbled.

I followed him into his bathroom and watched him open the cabinet under the vanity. Lenalee under exaggerated. "How much nail polish do you use?!"

"It has more uses than you think," he says as he set Secret in front of the selection. "Okay, Secret, choose whichever color you like best."

She quickly plucks a baby blue from the cabinet and hands it to him. "Big blue eyes."

I ignore the words. Kanda set Secret on the top of the vanity and began to carefully paint her tiny fingernails.

"YuKa?"

I turn to see the women glancing around the bedroom. "In here, Klaud."

She walked into the bathroom, saw Secret, and stood next to Kanda. She smiled and scratched behind the girl's ear, to which the said girl purred. Klaud asked, "How are you, Secret?"

"Good! Mama threatened Uncle K, so now he's doing my nails!" she said.

"Uncle K's the best at doing nails, that's for sure. If you're nice, he'll give you a manicure," Klaud said.

I look at Kanda. "Seriously?"

"It's what I give most of the women for their birthdays," he said.

"And my birthday's coming up soon, so that's always fun for me," Klaud said. Kanda rolled his eyes. "I will never understand why women care so much about their nails and hair."

"But Uncle K, you have long hair," Secret pointed out.

"I put it up so it's out of my face. I don't curl it or anything fancy," he said. Silence fell over the room. Secret kept staring at Klaud, who shifted her weight and stared at the ground. After a moment, the baby girl says, "Aunt Klaud, tell Uncle K. You're turning minty."

I look at Klaud while she stared at Secret, brow furrowed. Her skin appeared peachy, definitely not mint-colored. It always looks like that as far as I know.

Probably just another code word, I thought. Without turning, Kanda asks, "What do you need to tell me?"

Blinking and taking a breath, Klaud says, "I thought you might take me and Lenalee out for some shopping."

I smile. "Yeah, only about five weeks left, right?"

Klaud nods.

A few hours later, I follow Kanda, Lenalee, and Klaud into the store. I never pass up a chance to look at books!

An hour into a book on lycanthropy, I glance up to see Klaud walking into the aisle. I ask, "Looking for something?"

"No," she said and turned her head away from me. "I can find it on my own."

"Okay. I wasn't going to tell you that the baby books are over there anyways," I say, pointing across the aisle and to the left. She stalks past me, head held high, and her tail appears just long enough to smack me across the face. I chuckle as she sits where I pointed and pulled out a book. I ask, "Has anyone ever told you that you make a cute kuudere?"

She glares at me before she turns back to her book. "Brother has on several occasions, though I have never felt the need to find the definition."

I put my book back on the shelf and move to sit beside her. "A kuudere is a person, usually a girl, who is cold and sarcastic on the outside, but warm and fuzzy on the inside."

"Looks like you'll have to cut me open to find out," she muttered. I look over my shoulder for a moment. A man stood, looking through books. I turn my attention back to Klaud.

"But then you'd be dead," I say. "That wouldn't be a happy ending."

Her lips tugged upwards, but she bit the inside of her cheeks. Thirty-three, pregnant, and acts like a five-year-old, I thought.

I glance at the book in her hands. "What are you looking for?"

"None of your business," Klaud growled. I sigh, but don't push. I couldn't make her tell me, and pressuring her wouldn't help with her trusting me.

"But I'll tell you anyways. For Brother," she continued.

I smile and wait for her to tell me. We were getting somewhere! She flipped through the book lazily, amethyst eyes scanning the pages. "I just want to give him a good name." She nods her head downwards at her bump. "All the names I've thought of sound too girly."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Loyal. Raven. And then a ton of nature-related names." She sighs. "Something different and masculine."

"Like 'Kanda'," I say. She nods. "Different and masculine."

I glance over my shoulder again. It felt like there were eyes boring into me. Just the man with a leather jacket and baseball cap looking through hunting magazines. And he must be the one wearing five pounds of cologne. I shake my head and turn back to Klaud. "Don't let my opinion sway you, but I've always liked the name 'Shadow'. 'Storm', too."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

A man let out a silent sigh of relief. Allen's eyes weren't as sharp as Kanda's, but his sixth sense seemed strong.

"Don't let my opinion sway you, but I've always liked the name 'Shadow'. 'Storm', too."

The man's golden eyes drifted to the female beside Allen. Klaud, was it? He's much better with faces than names. She smiles slightly. "I like those."

Though he couldn't see the whitette, it was obvious Allen wore a smile. "They sound like names you would pick."

Are they?

"Yeah, I guess they are. Do you think Brother will like them?"

She has a brother?

"Kanda will like them if you do."

She's Kanda's sister?

"I hope so."

Are they really close?

"You keep looking. I'll be back in a bit."

With that, Allen stood and walked toward the hunting magazines. The man buried his nose into the pages and ignored the picture of a deer staring at him. Allen moves to the man's other side, out of Klaud's line of sight, and picks up a magazine. "Klaud used to have an amazing sense of smell, but now I have the best nose in the pack. Men's cologne isn't that sweet."

"Are you going to tell Kanda?" the man asked, eyes on his pages. Allen did the same. "Why would I?"

"You're supposed to hate me."

"You obviously don't know me very well." The whitette turned a page.

"My family hasn't done anything to make you like us."

"Neither have we."

"But we've done worse."

"The fact that you can say that means you aren't all bad."

"We aren't evil."

"You have no choice. I realize."

The man glanced at Klaud quickly before he looked at his magazine again. "How is she?"

"Good. A little over a month left."

"No way."

"Six month pregnancy term."

"And is he well?"

"Yes. 'Storm' and 'Shadow' are favorites, as you have probably heard."

"Yeah. I really like those."

Allen opened his mouth, but the golden-eyed man cut him off. "Oh, and I almost forgot."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out something wadded and green. After he handed it to Allen, the lycanthrope opened it. Three one-hundred dollar bills.

"Devit―"

"It's my kid, too," he said. "Tyki, Road, and Jasdero all helped out."

"You keep money?"

Devit paused. "Ah…it's extra from any kills we have."

"Figures."

"Despite what you may think, I don't particularly enjoy killing people. The blood is nice, yes, but I'd rather get blood bags. It's not fun."

"Another Earl thing?"

"He has us do his dirty work."

"Right," Allen says.

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"Where'd that come from?" Kanda asked as he pocketed the extra cash. I say, "Some I found in my old house. Remember?"

He leads Klaud, Lenalee, and me out of the store, hands full of plastic bags, as the rest of us. "Yeah, good thing, too. Air lin-lins can only poof so many diapers out of stores before someone suspects something."

"I think 'this looks like the work of an Air lin-lin' is the last thing that comes to a detective's mind."

We laugh, minus Kanda.

When we get back to the Order, we pile the bags into Klaud's room. Lavi and Marie had already moved Secret's crib in there, since she now slept with Lenalee in the bed. Lavi had a mattress in the corner.

I sit on the couch with Kanda. Secret playfully chased Fou around the kitchen while Fou chased Lavi. Klaud and Lenalee looked at the baby book they had gotten. Marie sat on the other couch with Miranda, and if I didn't know better, I would think he was flirting. Good thing I know better. Wink, wink. Alec and Alma sipped juice at the counter, moving their tails in unison and raising them at the appropriate times to keep the appendages from getting bitten by a lycanthrope child and wolf disguised as a woman. Everyone knows what's happening there. But I know better. Komui and Hevlaska walked out of the infirmary, charts in hand.

"We have a rather dysfunctional family," I say. Kanda chuckles. "Did you just figure that out?"

I shake my head. "No, I figured it out around the time I woke up one morning with cat ears. It became very apparent when I spent over an hour with Lavi one night."

"He does have a way of making people question his sanity," Kanda said.

Said man ran past the couch again. "Alec, can you please tame you puppy?!"

"Aw, but you're having so much fun!" Alec said.

"Daddy's a silly rabbit!" Secret squealed. Kanda says, "That's right, Secret."

"And Moyashi is grasshopper!"

"Very good."

"Hey!" I protest.

"Mama is kitty-cat!"

"Yes."

"And Aunt Klaud is kuudere!"

"Correct."

"Seriously?" the mentioned viper asked. I shrug. "Secret's words are law."

"And Uncle K's a pretty boy!"

"Spot on, Secret," I say. Kanda opened his mouth, but closed it again. Open. Closed. After a moment, he finally asked, "Who told you that?"

"Kitty-blue eyes!"

"Who's that?" Lenalee asked.

"We have no clue," Kanda and I say in unison.

Secret hopped on Kanda's lap while Fou continued to chase Lavi. The little girl pointed at me and Kanda. "Kitty-blue eyes."

I ask, "Who's Kitty-blue eyes? Is it me or Uncle K?"

She shakes her head and points to me. "Kitty-blue eyes." She then moved to the arm of the couch and tried to push Kanda closer to me. "Kitty-blue eyes."

I look at Kanda, who looked as confused as me. "Please, tell me that 'Kitty-blue eyes' isn't her word for 'sex'."

"I doubt it. I had to have sex explained to me," Kanda replies.

"How old were you?"

"Eighteen months, I believe. Though, I asked after I walked in on my mother and her latest 'visitor'."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. My father was the scum of the Earth and my mother wasn't much better, considering she knew everything that happened and didn't say a thing."

Unable to help myself, I wrap my arms around him. He starts, "Moyashi―"

"Shut up and let me hold you," I say. He relaxes slowly, his arms now around my waist like mine were around his. Secret moves to the other side of the couch and I feel her jump around. "Kitty-blue eyes!"

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

I glance at the brown water going down the drain. Geez, hunting really got me dirty today.

"Hey, Allen?"

My ear twitched at Alec's voice, and I hiss in annoyance as soap ran into the fuzzy appendage. "Yeah?"

The door to the bathroom opened. Alec continued, "Do you think Kanda would get mad if Alma and I…you know…started dating…?"

"What happened to being friends?"

"Well, we got talking earlier and…things change."

"I understand. To answer your question, I doubt he would care."

"Thanks."

The water in the stall next to me cut off. Despite my feline characteristics, water didn't bother me. Except when it went in my ears. That irritates me.

A few minutes later, I'm left in the bathroom with the other person, who I found out was Lavi after Alec's greeting. As I rub soap over my chest and arms, Lavi asks, "Allen?"

"Yep."

"Can I ask you something?"

Apparently, I'm very popular today. "Shoot."

"In your opinion, is Secret acting strangely?"

I pause, ignoring the water running in my ears. "Huh?"

"Well, Lenalee's worried about the whole 'Kitty-blue eyes' thing, and then Secret told her that she was turning into 'sky color'."

"We know she has a code for a lot of things."

"Still, it's weird."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, Kanda would tell you if he thought something was wrong."

"If you say so."

Author Note: Updates may be more spread out than before. Sorry about that, but I'm not on hiatus anymore!