Hello, everybody! So, if you hadn't noticed already, this story gets updated every five days and I shall try my damned hardest to be consistent with that :)
To Ann On E. Mouse, the bath scene is going to come up in a few chapters XD and, yeah, I know I don't have ta write out every single day in the two weeks that Lavi's in that state but...I don't know! There's so much someone could write about what would happen if Lavi got turned into a kid but I'm sitting there with the document open before me and I think "ah, the hell with this! I'll deal with it later!" and then I start surfin the net. The net is going to be the death of my writer-self -facepalm- but it feels weird if I miss out a day :( but, yeh, I think it would be best to have a few peaceful days too :) so thanks for that! And Lavi getting lost in a crowdy place is an awesome idea but, since he has a flawless memory and all, if he couldn't find Kanda, he'd just go back home, right? And, anyway, he clings to Kanda all the time when there's other people around so...-sigh- but, thanks anyway :D and thanks for the review! ^_^
Actually, thank you to everyone who reviewed! And those who read this silently too! Just as long as somebody's reading this, I'll continue writing :)
Lavi's green eye opened slowly. The first thing he felt was an absence…where was papa? He began to sniffle as he sat up. He saw the image of papa walking away and he wanted to cry again. Did…papa not like Lavi? Did papa really want to hand Lavi over to someone else? Did papa…hate looking after Lavi? Was Lavi a burden?
But as the blanket fell to his waist and he got a wider view of the room, he saw papa sitting on the floor beside the door, with his back resting against the wall and his arms clutching his knees to his chest. "Papa!" All feelings of sadness vanished as euphoria enveloped the little boy and he vaulted out of bed (nearly falling face first onto the floor in his haste) and ran to papa. "Papa!"
But papa didn't move. Lavi stopped by the figure of the man and one tiny hand reached up to clutch the material of papa's sleeve and he gave it a soft tug. "Papa…?"
Papa's head slowly lifted up. "What…is it?" he asked around a yawn, rubbing at his eye at the same time.
"Papa!" Relieved, Lavi held his little arms up. "Pick up!"
Kanda groaned. "Gimme a break, will you? I wanna sleep." He yawned again and dropped his head back onto his arms.
Not used to this response, Lavi stood there awhile, unsure of what to do. "Papa…?" he mumbled, confused. He wanted to be picked up, because when papa picked him up, papa showed that he cared. "Papa?"
"Be quiet." Papa sounded cold sometimes. Lavi didn't like that but he could live with it because that was just the way papa was. But papa sounded exhausted now and that wasn't right because papa was never tired.
"Papa go sleep?"
"Yes. So shut up."
"Lavi go away?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Crestfallen and wanting to cry, Lavi turned to the door. But he couldn't reach the handle so he couldn't open it. Trying to hold in the tears that he usually let spill in front of papa without any regard for papa's feelings or wants, Lavi looked around the room in hopes of locating something which would give him a bit of height.
But he didn't find anything so he stumbled over to the window and climbed up onto the ledge to sit down and look outside, like papa had a tendency to do sometimes, as if he wanted to be out there…to be free of whatever was restraining him here. Was Lavi really a burden?
Mimicking papa's posture, he curled up and rested his head on his arms. He tried to hold off the sobs but he had no luck…so he tried to keep them down instead. Papa was sleeping.
A long time passed and Lavi was still crying when he suddenly felt himself being hoisted up into the air. Only to come to a stop against a very familiar shoulder. "It doesn't matter if you try to tone it down; I can still hear you crying, you know." papa's soft voice said somewhere above his head.
"Papa," he wiped the tears away with a fist and smiled as he squiggled around in papa's arms, trying to make himself comfortable.
"…I'm sorry." papa suddenly said.
Lavi pulled back to gaze questioningly at papa. "For…?"
"For a great many things." papa mumbled, leaning his forehead against Lavi's.
"It's okay, papa!" Lavi smiled and let his head fall to papa's shoulder again. "Let Lavi stay…Please?"
"Hmm? Stay where?" papa muttered in puzzlement.
"By papa."
He felt a hand on his back, a hand that was comfortingly big, just like papa's presence. The hand patted Lavi's small back twice and then was lifted away again. "We'll see how that works out in the future."
Now it was Lavi's turn to sound confused. He pulled back to look at papa. "Huh?"
Papa shook his head. "Never mind. So, what d'ya wanna do now?"
Lavi shrugged. "Anything papa wanna do."
"I wanna go to sleep." papa walked over to the bed and sat down. He set the baby on his lap. "So, did you have fun with the bean sprout?"
Lavi's smile wavered and the little hand clutching the material of papa's shirt tightened its hold. He couldn't remember what the bean sprout had done during the time Lavi had been in his care because the only thing Lavi kept seeing was papa walking away and it had made him sad.
The bean sprout – Allen, was his name, but papa called him bean sprout so Lavi would too – was an okay person. He spoke to Lavi nicely…nicer than papa did but…but why did he have to fight with papa? Why did he always have to say mean things to papa? When people said mean things to papa, papa got angry and everyone in papa's path felt that anger.
Papa shouldn't be angry because papa was a nice person at heart…otherwise he wouldn't look after Lavi, he wouldn't pick Lavi up when Lavi asked to be picked up, and he wouldn't hold onto Lavi tightly during those times at night when Lavi was overwhelmed by his bad dreams and ended up crying.
"Lavi miss papa." he mumbled.
"You really are a wuss."
He hadn't expected papa to say something sympathetic but the words, although expected, were said in manner different to the usual. They hadn't sounded harsh or annoyed, but rather soft and…as if laughingly. He looked up in surprise and saw an odd little smile curving the corner of papa's lips. How rare to see papa smile.
"Lavi sorry…" Lavi said.
"No need for you to be." papa replied indifferently as he set Lavi on the edge of the bed and then laid himself down. "I'm going to sleep."
"Lavi sleep too!"
"You just woke up!"
"But…but Lavi stay with papa!" Lavi didn't want to be away from papa. Lavi had to stay by papa and show papa that he could be a good boy…because then papa would never want to give Lavi away…like he had this afternoon.
Papa sighed in exasperation and sidled over to make room and turned his back on the little boy. "Fine, do whatever you want."
With a bright smile, Lavi made himself comfortable beside papa. But he couldn't go to sleep; he was wide awake now. So he just lay there, happy in the fact that papa was right beside him and he was in familiar territory.
He let his gaze travel around the familiar room and his eye fell on the hourglass containing the flower on the little table opposite the bed. He still remembered that first day when he'd found papa and then they'd gone to town to buy Lavi some clothes. He still remembered papa's expression as he'd slapped Lavi's hand away from the hourglass, a look of anger far deeper than the usual one in place on his pale face.
What was that thing? Lavi wanted to know but he got the feeling papa would be very angry with him if he inquired about the flower. That was also why Lavi had kept well away from that thing…he didn't want to risk papa hitting him again.
But he was so curious! There were times when he caught papa staring at that flower with the usual blank look on his face but…something beneath the surface was…melancholic. What did it mean? Lavi felt he knew the answer but it was out of reach…too, too far away...as if from another life or something similar.
Should he ask papa? Maybe papa wouldn't get angry…since papa had first started to take care of Lavi, papa didn't get frustrated with Lavi as much so maybe…maybe Lavi ought to ask. But then, what if papa did get angry? But he really wanted to know.
He turned around, wondering if papa was asleep yet. But he was a little surprised to see papa facing him, his dark eyes open. Lavi smiled and shuffled closer to papa, abandoning his curiosity for the moment. He felt papa's hand on his head, the long fingers combing through his red hair. Papa was being so…gentle. Did papa feel…sorry for giving Lavi to the bean sprout? Hadn't papa said he was sorry? So papa truly, truly cared? It filled Lavi with a warm, pleasant feeling.
Neither papa said anything and nor did Lavi feel the need to speak. If he spoke, papa would probably let go. It was such a serene moment, a rarity when he considered that this was papa he was lying besides. Sure, papa could be calm…if no one was there to disturb his peace but he was often irritated with Lavi because Lavi didn't want to let him alone.
I'll stay with papa forever, Lavi thought with a radiant smile blooming across his lips. And although he'd just risen from a decent slumber, he found his eyelids drooping once again and he succumbed to sleep.
They ended up missing dinner. Kanda blamed it on Lavi, though it wasn't really his fault. He didn't mean it though. And he could have lived through not having one of his meals but Lavi couldn't. The little boy was hungry and wanted his food and he wouldn't shut up about it.
"Papa, Lavi hungry!"
"Well it's your fault we missed dinner anyway! Who told you to sleep so much?!"
"But papa sleep too!"
"Well…j-just shut up, you little runt!"
"Papa! Hungry!"
"So go to the kitchen by yourself! I'm sure Jerry will take care of you!"
"No! Papa come!"
"I don't wanna!"
"Papa!"
Although he was feeling too lazy to leave his room, as Kanda looked down at that upset little face, he could feel his resolve weakening. It was strange the effects little Lavi had on him. So, even though he wanted to do nothing more than to go back to bed and curl up in a futile attempt to sleep once more, he forced himself to get up and get some food for the two of them.
As they walked out the door, Lavi's tiny hand slipped into Kanda's. Feeling the sudden alien touch, he automatically jerked his arm upwards, thus tearing out of Lavi's grasp. It didn't take long for him to figure out what the touch was and, when he looked down, he saw the little boy was teary-eyed.
"What're you crying for?" Kanda sighed.
Lavi just shook his bowed head and wiped at his eye. Kanda heaved another sigh and, after a moment or two of thinking, he reached down and took the child's hand. What the hell; he's just a kid, he thought, wondering why the kid's crying weakened his will so.
The effect the gesture had on the little boy was amazing; the teary-eyed expression vanished instantly to be replaced by a bright grin. I bet he does it on purpose cuz he thinks he's found a weak point, Kanda mused. Strangely enough, he didn't care to set the little boy straight. Just this once, Kanda could let it slide; Lavi was a child, after all, and he got happy whenever Kanda showed his concern and Kanda liked to see the infant with a big smile on his childish little face.
The night was a long one. After dinner, neither man nor child felt like going back to sleep so they stayed up late.
Little Lavi had recently received a plain paper pad and a set of colouring pencils from Lenalee as a present and he had been making good use of them by filling up the pages with colourful doodles. The little boy spent a majority of the night scribbling away and Kanda tried to meditate. But every time he was about to let himself slip into a state of calmness, he was interrupted by Lavi calling out to him and he'd open his eyes to see the boy holding up his paper pad with a happy look on his face, proud of the pictures he'd drawn.
"What the hell is this?" Kanda grunted, not even trying to act interested as he glanced at the picture. To Kanda, Lavi's pictures looked like some artist's nightmare but the child was pretty well developed for a baby aged three years. On the paper was a drawing of two sketchy figures, one long and the other short. One had a mess of red squiggles which could only be hair while the other sported long black lines ending at the waist.
"Papa and Lavi!" Lavi answered with a grin.
"Oh. I see." It made sense now that Kanda looked more closely. But it was still just a mess. Lavi was looking at him hopefully so he figured he was supposed to comment. "It's…um…good…?"
"Really?!"
"Er…sure."
And Lavi cheerily went on to draw some more. Kanda didn't get in any meditation so he gave up after a while and resigned himself to watching as Lavi occupied himself. His movements gradually became slower and his pencil fell out of his grasp. He didn't bother to pick it back up. Instead, he gazed up at Kanda.
"Lavi tired." he mumbled.
"So go to sleep." Kanda grumbled.
"Um…pick up…?"
The man heaved a weary sigh and lifted the child up. "You really are getting spoilt." he chastised, though there was no venom in the words.
"Sorry, papa." Lavi muttered as he let himself fall against Kanda's chest and closed his eye. As usual, he clutched the material of Kanda's shirt in a tiny fist. Kanda was beginning to think the child did that for security or something; even if he was moved or jolted a little bit, his hold tightened. It happened all the time when he fell asleep while Kanda was picking him up.
But Kanda was careful not to move. Looking down at the child, a sudden smile alighted upon the man's lips. It was a serene and unreserved gesture. He raised a hand to the child's head and brushed back a strand of red hair.
The next day passed without too much trouble. Lavi refused to talk to Allen and the others at breakfast and sat still on Kanda's lap like a well-made little doll. Lenalee and Miranda tried to coax him out of his shell but he refused to interact with them so they gave up.
Towards the end of breakfast, Krory and Allen were discussing something heatedly and Lavi got interested so he slipped off Kanda's lap and watched them intently. Kanda left by himself, unnoticed by his charge, only to return when he heard loud wailing coming from the hall.
Lavi wouldn't let go of him all day, much to Kanda's dismay. But lunch and teatime passed by without Kanda trying to slip away from the child so Lavi relaxed a little. By the time the evening meal rolled around, he was all right in talking to Lenalee and Miranda. He even exchanged a few words with Allen…and he glanced questioningly at Krory a few times. He seemed to be seeing the vampire-like man in a friendlier light than before, and he even waved goodbye to him when Kanda said it was time to go.
And when it was time to sleep, Lavi wouldn't stop talking about all his friends. "Aunty and Lenalee nice to Lavi." he said with a bright smile. He paused a while, his brows pulled into a thoughtful frown. "And bean sprout nice too…and scary man smile a lot so he nice too...although, he has scary smile..."
"What about me?" Kanda asked.
Lavi smiled again. "Papa the best!"
He didn't say I'm nice, Kanda thought wistfully. Well, one could hardly frown upon that! Sure, he wasn't nice, but he was nice to Lavi, right? Of course he was! He was taking care of the little runt!
But he stopped the internal debate when he questioned himself why he was bothered so much. Big deal if Lavi didn't think he was nice! What did Kanda care? How ridiculous!
His mood shifted and, without another word, he turned his back on the child and tried to get to sleep.
"P-papa?" Lavi mumbled, sounding unsure.
"Go to sleep."
Ahahaha -nervous laugh- I have accepted that this story is bordering on crack. I mean, it is totally and absolutely and utterly outside the realm of possibilities for what could happen in the DGM world...well, I suppose the "turning into a kid" part is plausible (who knows what kinds of things Komui gets up to? -_-') but, Kanda getting stuck looking after baby Lavi? And, on top of that, he's changing too. Where I'm up to in writing the story atm, he has changed far too much because of Lavi. I mean, I think it's cannon that Kanda and Lavi will be really close friends by the time the war ends and all and I think if anything were to happen to Lavi after that period, Kanda would give a damn but I can't really guess how much of a damn, ya know? And for me, who has a freakish obsession with facts, that's a big problem and if it builds into uncertainty on my part, I might get tired of the story and stop writing it :\ how suckish, right?
But, on a plus note, since Kanda's background is soon going to be revealed (?), it'll save me some guess-work for part two of this story :D I did have something planned already but if I went ahead and wrote it and then found out that it didn't match with Kanda's real past at all, then I'd go nuts and delete everything, yo :\ weirdo, huh? Fanfiction's about speculation anyway.
Oh, and, just to make the two weeks go a little faster, I hope it's all right if I introduce an OC later on. She's just a little girl who's going to serve as a playmate for little Lavi and the idea for her came from my best friend. But, I know it can be annoying having someone chuck in an OC in a story about your favourite characters so please bear with me, onegai shimasu! And it's not like she plays a very big role...but, yeah...I'm having doubts though. Every time I read a story where a random, recurring OC's thrown in, I get really peed off, which is why I'm trying to explain myself here like some kind of criminal -embarrassed- hope you all understand! And enjoy the story!