Early update cuz it's Lavi's birthday :D

Anyway, I'm stuck. I've almost finished writing this story and I did say there was going to be a Part II but I don't see the point in it. But that's not what I'm stuck on. What I'm stuck on is how to end it...I've got a good idea but there's just a little bit about Kanda's curse and it's pissing me off cuz the theory I came up with obviously isn't gonna happen and if the coming chapter of DGM in Akamaru Jump is gonna be about Kanda and we do get the backstory, then I'm gonna beat myself up for being so far off _

But, I got quite a few chapters to go before that bit comes up so, maybe I'll be able to change it accordingly after the DGM chapter is released...aaaah, but then I gotta worry about when I'ma get to read it. How long does it take someone to translate fifty pages? :( maybe I should just say "that person" died before Kanda could get to em so the curse is still in effect. Easy solution, no? XD lol

Actually, I do have a theory other than that but it seems too complicated for my humble little story so I can't be asked with it :(

Well, anyway, enjoy!

Oh, and to Yuu13, there's gonna be a lot more instances like that now :D Kanda gets really "sweet" (if you can ever call Kanda "sweet" without talkin about someone who just happens to look like him, if ya get me :|) and fatherly after this, cuz he's stopped trying to be Mr Nasty to the little boy. And I really thank the rest of you guys for the support! You're so understanding!! It melts my heart...!

Lavi looked up at the shelves of books before him. Everything was so huge! Lavi couldn't reach those places! He should have brought Lenalee or Aunty Miranda along! Oh, but he couldn't fetch them now! Papa would wake up soon and Lavi had to be there!

Lavi was on a mission…a mission to find a good book for papa. All evening yesterday, papa had been bored while Lavi drew and played with Lenalee and Allen and Miranda and even Krory so this time Lavi was going to make sure papa wouldn't get bored.

Oh, but it was so difficult to get to the good books! And, to make matters more complicated, Lavi didn't know what papa liked to read. Did papa even read at all? Lavi hadn't seen a single book in papa's room. He plopped down on the ground, pouting because he didn't know what to do.

After a while of looking at the lowest bookshelf in front of him, he decided he might as well just pick one; if papa didn't like it, Lavi would return for a better one later. He stood up and walked along the length of the bookshelf, staring intently for any eye-catching titles or covers.

His gaze fell on a black cover imbued with random red streaks so he pulled it out. It was quite big and heavy so he had a hard time getting it out, but he managed it. Taking in a deep breath to wipe away the weariness brought about by his task, he looked down at the title.

"D-demons," he read out loud, "and…my? Mi…? Oh, like, myth…mytho…mytho…logy…? Mythology?" he frowned, wondering if he'd gotten it right. Ah, what did it matter? It looked pretty interesting. And there were scary illustrations inside too. Papa would like this, right? It was about demons! Lavi found this kind of amusing.

Maybe the word "demons" had caught his attention because he'd heard someone call papa a demon. He'd wanted to correct that person (how dare they insult papa?!) but, at the time, papa had been in an okay mood and it had appeared that papa had not heard whoever it was and Lavi hadn't wanted to be the one to make papa angry so he'd not said anything. But even though he didn't want to think anything bad about papa, he had to agree that papa could be demonic sometimes…though, papa tried to keep his anger reined in around Lavi (something which made Lavi very happy, even though most of the time papa's attempts at not showing his anger proved futile and papa got mad anyway).

Lavi decided he'd been here long enough and, rising to his feet, he took in a mighty breath and bent down to lift his burden. "Ooh, heavy!" he huffed as he staggered. He wasn't that strong. No wonder papa was always saying he was a wuss. He felt a little saddened by this. And he'd wanted to prove to papa that he was growing stronger too…but after papa had fallen unconscious on the road yesterday, Lavi hadn't been able to stop crying. He'd tried to cry less since then. Papa was strong so Lavi had to be strong too!

The book was held firmly in his arms, though he could barely see over the top of it. So he practically made his way out of the library blindly (not that it mattered since he remembered the way in minute detail). He got tired easily so he had to stop frequently to catch his breath. This was exhausting!

He encountered many people on his way there and they all asked if he needed any help but he shied away from them. People who didn't associate with papa or weren't on good terms with papa were not to be trusted. But he did wish he'd come across Lenalee, Allen, Miranda, or Krory so that he could ask them for help. But it was lunchtime now so they were probably eating in the cafeteria.

He wondered if papa was up yet; papa had been asleep for a while now. After she was done eating, Lenalee would bring papa and Lavi's meals to the infirmary so Lavi had to hurry and get there before her because papa would certainly rise before the food arrived. Papa loved his soba, after all.

After what seemed like an eternity of hard labour (or just about twenty minutes, even though it was just a short walk from the library to the infirmary), Lavi finally stepped through the doors of the medical wing, dragging the book behind him because he'd run out of energy to hold it. He looked across at the last bed in the enormous chamber and was relieved to see that papa was still asleep.

Seeing that the nurse was sitting behind her station, Lavi went to ask her for help. "Excuse me," he said, willing himself to be tall enough to be seen over the edge of the counter. But, of course, he wasn't. But the nurse knew he was there anyway because she stood up and looked over the counter down at him. "Yes?"

"Help Lavi…with book…please?" Lavi mumbled timidly, pointing back at his burden. He didn't know this woman but she'd helped check papa over yesterday evening and today morning so she couldn't be a bad person. And she always smiled at Lavi.

The nurse looked to where he'd pointed and smiled. "Of course I'll help! Who's it for?"

"For papa!" Lavi responded cheerily. The woman picked up the book and walked towards papa's bed.

"Is that so? Are you reading to him?"

Lavi stopped. "Huh?"

The nurse looked back, still smiling. "It's nice to read to sick people."

"R-really?!" Lavi asked earnestly.

She chuckled. "Yup! It shows that there are people waiting for them to get better and makes them want to heal faster."

"Ok! Lavi read to papa!" Lavi exclaimed happily as he continued on after the nurse.

"I'm sure your papa will be better before you know it!"

"Yeah!"

So, when the nurse left for her desk, Lavi clambered up the bed to sit by papa and began the chore of dragging the book over to his lap. Opening it to the first page, he started to read to himself. Might as well get it perfect for when papa woke up.

Kanda's eyes opened. Great, I'm still stuck in this useless place, was his first thought. But before the grimness could set in, he noted little Lavi sitting beside him with a book as big as himself opened on his lap. There was an adorable little frown on his face as he struggled to keep the book in place and read at the same time.

The child turned his attention away from the book when he felt Kanda stir. "Papa!" he cried joyously as he slammed the book shut and slid it off his lap.

"Yo," Kanda greeted as the child climbed into his lap. He ruffled the boy's red hair. "Where'd the book come from?"

Lavi grinned. "Lavi brought it for papa!"

"Where from?"

"The library, of course!"

Kanda sighed. "You went wandering off on your own? You shouldn't do that."

Lavi frowned in puzzlement. "Because people want to…hurt Lavi?"

Kanda scoffed. "As if I'd let anyone do that."

Lavi smiled brightly as he laid his head against Kanda's chest. "Then nothing to worry about?"

Kanda looked disapprovingly down at the child. "That's not the problem. You might end up getting lost."

"Lavi have good memory." the boy said cheerily. "Lavi never get lost."

I know that all too well, Kanda thought sourly as he recalled the early days of Lavi's arrival at the Black Order. He'd been able to find Kanda no matter where the latter went (much to Kanda's dismay) and he'd had no problem getting around. It had annoyed Kanda because when he'd first come to the Black Order, it had taken him a long time to get used to the layout of the building. "Right. We'll see if you're still saying that after you can't find me one day and start blubbering."

"Then Lavi not leave papa." Lavi mumbled.

So optimistic, Kanda thought. "So, what's this book about?" he asked as he reached out and took the tome.

"It's about demons!" Lavi answered brightly.

Kanda gazed at the title. "Why demons?"

Lavi shrugged. "Lavi not know what papa like."

"Right." Kanda smiled suddenly. He went to get a book for me, that's…cute. Lately, he'd not had any problems using words like that, whereas before, saying those kinds of things would have cost him some of his manly pride. But he didn't care about petty issues like that anymore. And, besides, it was a statement of fact, right? Little Lavi was adorable.

Lavi looked up suddenly. "Lavi read to papa?"

Kanda was slightly taken aback; he'd not had many people read to him before. He wants to read? To me? What for? "Well…I suppose…but what d'ya wanna read to me for?"

Lavi pointed a little finger towards the nurses' station. "Nurse said ill people get better quickly when other people read to them."

Kanda looked over at the nurse behind the desk. "Really?"

Lavi nodded.

"I see. All right then, let's read."

"Ok!"

And so, Lavi began to read. Like the last time in the library, he got quite a few mistakes but, still, his skill at reading was incredible for his age. Kanda wondered if the child was just that good or whether he still retained his knowledge from his adult self. It was possible. But then if that was the case, he wouldn't get so many mistakes.

And every time he got a mistake, he seemed annoyed. Kanda watched with an amused smirk as a tick marks appeared on the boy's face every time he got a word wrong.

Finally, he snapped. "Oh, too hard!" he then promptly shoved the book off Kanda's open palm. It fell to the bed and then slid off the edge and landed with a dull thud on the floor. Lavi pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

Kanda clamped a hand over his mouth at the little display of aggression. That's…that's too cute! He thought, trying hard to hold in the sudden laughter that was travelling up his throat.

He was about to say something when he realised that Lenalee was walking towards them with a tray of food. She smiled. "So, he's finally starting to pick up your bad habits."

"Tch." Kanda huffed. He gave the boy a gentle push. "Pick it up and then we'll eat."

"Ok!" Lavi said, anger instantly forgotten as he hopped off the bed.

Lenalee set the tray down on Kanda's bedside table. "Sorry I'm late. Miranda was very excited today because Marie's coming back." she chuckled. "We don't often get to see her so…alive."

Kanda was about to give a blank grunt of acknowledgement but then the news really set in. "Wait, Marie's coming?"

She nodded as she bent down and helped Lavi with the tedious task of picking the book up. "Yup."

"And that means…" Kanda groaned.

"The General's not coming." She laughed at his expression as he let out a huge sigh of relief. She finally took a seat in the chair beside Kanda's bed. "Miranda said that they were in France and Marie wanted to come back home but General Tiedoll had something to take care of down there. Chaozii's never had the chance to explore France that well so he wanted to stay too."

Kanda was hardly paying attention. Lavi crawled onto his lap and the man took a hold of the tray of food and set it down in front of him so they could eat. "So, when's Marie getting here?"

"He phoned just before noon saying that he was going to catch a ship from Calais tonight. Since there's no rush, he said he should be here by the day after tomorrow."

"Hey, I'll do that," Kanda said quickly as he took the chopsticks from Lavi's eager hands. He looked back up at Lenalee. "That woman, she didn't leak anything about what happened, did she?"

Lenalee tutted, "she has a name, you know. And, no, I don't think she did. Every time she sees or hears from Marie, nothing else registers." She chuckled. "I wonder when he'll propose…"

Kanda snorted as he began feeding (from a somewhat odd angle) the boy in his lap. "It might take him a while."

After they finished eating, Kanda handed the tray over and thanked Lenalee.

"It's no problem. I'll see you guys later. Bye, Lavi!" she smiled as she turned and waved at Lavi.

"Bye, Lenalee!"

The door at the further end closed. Kanda fell back onto his pillow. Lavi crawled off his lap and sat beside him.

"Papa?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"What kind of propose?"

"Eh?" Kanda looked over at the boy, confused. "What're you talkin about?"

"Lenalee said propose?"

"Ah, that. A marriage proposal, ya know, like when…"

"Silly papa, Lavi know what marriage is."

He just insulted me, Kanda thought, but I don't need offended. He chose to ignore it and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you?"

Lavi nodded. "It when man and woman unite and spend rest of their lives together."

The man's eyebrow couldn't climb any higher up his forehead. "Interesting choice of words for a little guy like you. How old are you, kid?"

Lavi grinned and held up three fingers. "Lavi three years old!"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Because Lavi a big boy!"

"Right." Kanda ruffled the boy's hair. Tilting his head to the side, Lavi frowned as he stared at the man's face. "What?" Kanda asked.

"Will papa ever get married?"

Kanda nearly choked on his own spit. "Wh-what're you talkin about?! Kids shouldn't worry about this kind of thing!"

Lavi's frown became even tighter. "But papa…isn't papa lonely?"

Kanda sighed and patted Lavi's head. "Of course I'm not."

The boy was still frowning. "But…why…? Allen have Lenalee but papa have no one…"

This kid, just how much does he notice? Kanda wondered. Allen and Lenalee weren't very open about their relationship (since it was much too dangerous with Komui around), and anyway, what on earth would a little kid know about that anyway? "This shouldn't bother you. Even if I do feel that way, you shouldn't worry about it, all right?"

"But Lavi can't help it." Lavi mumbled, fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt.

Kanda permitted a small smile to curl the corner of his mouth. "Little old geezer. Anyway, I have an annoying, self-proclaimed best friend who keeps me company so there's no time to feel lonely."

Lavi looked up once more. "Huh? Who?"

"He looks like you, he's got the same hair as you, he talks about as much as you do…probably even more, and he's as much of an idiot as you are." The man grinned. "But, even with all his annoying traits, I think he's kinda decent." And I hope he won't remember this when he turns back to normal, he prayed. He didn't need Lavi gloating about this when he went back to normal.

Lavi was in awe. "Someone…like Lavi?"

Kanda figured if the boy didn't already know what had happened to him, then there wasn't any point telling him. It was too troublesome. He nodded, "Yeah. Someone just like you."

"What he called?"

"He's…Bookman Junior." Kanda replied.

Lavi giggled."Strange name! He nice to papa?"

Kanda nodded slowly. "I suppose…he is."

"So, papa really not lonely?"

"I told you it's fine; I don't have time to feel lonely."

Lavi smiled brightly. "Ok, then papa in good hands!"

Kanda gave the child a blank stare. "I'm older than you are, you know. Don't talk about me as if I'm at your level."

The little redhead pouted. "But still, if Lavi not here, papa be angry all the time? And papa not talk to anybody when papa angry and papa not have fun at all!"

That's…probably true, Kanda mused. He ruffled the boy's hair again and smiled. "You're right. If you weren't here, I wouldn't be like I am now."

Lavi's green eye glimmered. "Really, papa?!"

So hopeful, so attached, Kanda sighed. "Yeah."

It was a bit shorter than usual but enjoyable to read, I hope :) above all, one should enjoy what one reads, no? Ugh...I sound so old...Anyway, sorry for any mistakes; I'm too lazy to read through it again :( wonder how on earth I'll make it as a pro writer with that kinda stinky attitude...

Next update will be on the 16th, hopefully. Take care, people! And thank you for reading ^_^