A/N:
I'm not going to lie guys, but I really can't see myself continuing this story.
There are many reasons why I feel this way, but the main one would have to be that I really have no love for this story anymore. I have a horrible habit of beginning a story without a long term idea for it; and Crescent, like all those before it was started on this well worn bases.
Yes, I'll admit I had planned a bit further into plot for this story (if you can call it plot). However, I also started this story long before Allen even 'upgraded' into the Crowned Clown, so with the addition of that and many other aspects within the series itself, my previous plans have been thrown for a bit of a loop. I can still write the story with Allen as he was before, but I think that it may not be appealing because so much has happened since. Furthermore, with Allen in Crowned Clown form, he seems to have lost some of his initial innocence, and for me at least, he now seems to be rivalling if not somewhat surpassing Kanda on level of power, which prompts my mind to think in stereotypical terms of the strongest = seme. And Allen topping, while it has been sprouting up here and there with good reviews – is not my preference and I almost blatantly refuse to read it (there has been stories I dropped reading because of this. It doesn't matter how good they are) – let alone write it.
This story also became a job to me. I felt – and still do feel like I should be writing it diligently for you guys. That is something that bothers me; I started writing this for me and what I would like to see happen or whatnot. But, increasingly with each chapter I wrote and posted, I would find myself thinking "What would the readers want?" "Would they mind if I did this?" and sometimes, I even feel like I should get approval for something I wish to include in the story before I write it in. This is not how I want to be working, at all. I know many of you will probably think – 'what is this? I don't care, don't let it bother you; forget about our opinions' yadda yadda. Thing is, I would like to do exactly that. But, I still feel like I owe you guys a good story for reading crescent in the first place.
Finally, one more excuse for you guys. I'm busy. It is my final year of high-school; it's important to me, I need to succeed in all my courses (circumstances for me right now are that if I fail one course – I don't graduate. Due to missing a year in Japan.), - and that entails homework and lots of it. Furthermore, I am off to University in the fall and where I stand now, I don't know how busy I will be at the time. So I have been holding off writing for well… a year or two is it?

Any way, I thought the hell with it. I will write a chapter for all those who have been waiting and still writing me reviews. And I am sorry if down the road I end up not writing crescent for another year or two, or if I end up dropping it completely.
But till then, let's see where it goes shall we?

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Allen ran straight at the demon, an enraged yell exploding from him as he blindly attacked the grinning akuma. The Earl's demon sidestepped Allen's vicious swing and parried Lavi's follow through with the thin black blade of Kanda's sword.
Allen rebounded quickly, his anger fuelling his movements. He attacked again; recklessly aiming his blows.

As the akuma danced out of Allen's reach he tsked. "You think you can defeat me like that? What a silly little exorcist you are!" The akuma turned and swung his arm at Lavi, hitting him in the side unprepared.
Allen stood firmly rooted to the spot, watching the akuma move about in front of him. Taunting.

Lavi regrouped to Allen's side.
"Do you have a plan?" Allen shook his head.

"He's fast," Allen grunted as he dodged a heavy blow from the akuma.
"But we just have to be faster!" and with that, he lunged at the demon while Lavi grew his hammer for an attack.

---

Inside the cave, a body stirred in the dark.

Kanda shifted gingerly, his body aching in response. He had been roused by the sounds echoing down the tunnel. As he sat up he noticed with mild favour that the akuma was not within sight.
His entire being hurt, but he pulled himself up with the aid of the craggy wall. Kanda grit his teeth together as he shuffled against the wall, heading toward the voices.

---

Allen wiped his mouth against his sleeve; he had bit his lip roughly when the akuma had thrown Lavi backwards into him.

The demon had long since shed himself of Kanda's sword, opting for a more natural motif of swiping at them with the claws on the end of his elongated arms.
Allen and Lavi had managed to strike a few well placed hits, but the demon seemed to be analyzing their attacks, and was now beginning to dodge them with little trouble. All the while he taunting them about their mortality.

"You're growing tired exorcists~ soon you will be joining your friend in death!" The akuma cackled with perverse mirth.

Beside him, Lavi was breathing heavily, his shoulder's heaving as he swung his hammer toward the akuma again. Allen was about to unleash his own volley of attacks when he spotted a dark figure near the entrance to the cave, crouching down and picking up the forgotten sword.

Allen's heart leapt into his mouth. Kanda! He was about to shout out to the dark haired teen, before he realized the demon had yet to notice his escaped prisoner. Allen swung into his attack with renewed vigour. Kanda was alive!

---

When Kanda was in view of the entrance, he kept to the corner, searching out the owner's to the voices he had been hearing. He was only mildly surprised at the sight of Allen and Lavi fighting the akuma. As Kanda moved to the mouth of the cave, he had seen his sword lying in the tall grass. He inched forward, his battered hand grasping the well worn hilt. At the moment he realized that the demon had not noticed his exit.

Right now he did not have much energy to expend on activating his sword, but as the demon lashed out again towards the others he murmured activate to his sword. The blade glinted in the sun as he held it up high, and brought it crashing down on the back of the demon, cleaving it in two solidly. But not before it chuckled at him in surprise.

He let his sword de-activate, holding onto it for a second longer before letting it fall to the ground, his own body soon following.

---

Lavi had been surprised when the akuma had been suddenly cleaved in half, and looked at Allen about to ask him if it was his doing; before he saw the form near the entrance to the cave.
He was about to make a witty remark until kanda had dropped mugen to the ground, following it closely afterwards.
"Kanda!"

Allen had reached Kanda first, he was about to kneel down next to the exorcists form, but held back.
It was Kanda. He and Kanda didn't get along.

Lavi was next to them in a matter of seconds. He glanced at Allen, wondering why the other had so abruptly stopped, before he caught the conflicted look on Allen face. It was mixed with many emotions. Hurt, happiness, and longing.
Lavi sighed heavily, and kneeled next to Kanda.

"Yuu, you alright?" He lifted the other gently from the ground. Lavi grimaced at the state his friend was in and almost wished he could bring the akuma back to 'life' only to send it back again in vengeance for Kanda.
Kanda squinted his eyes at Lavi in annoyance. "Do I look alright?"

Lavi grinned down at the other, before placing Kanda's arms around his neck; lifting the other with ease onto his back as he stood up.
He looked at Allen who blinked his eyes owlishly at the sight. He then turned and looked in kanda's face, grinning even more when he saw the murderous scowl etched onto it, along with what appeared to be a slight blush.
With that, the trio headed back to the little village.

---

They had booked two adjoining rooms in the local inn and tavern, and had retired to them quickly.
Kanda had opted for a quick shower, before dressing his wounds quietly as Lavi and Allen looked on.

Allen felt a little numb on the inside. It was the good kind of numb though, where you are just feeling a jumble of emotions that set your nerve endings on overdrive.
He kept sneaking tiny peaks in Kanda's direction that did not go over looked by Lavi who in silent knowing, grinned each time.

Finally, however, Kanda got up slowly from his position on the small couch in the room and moved to the bed, drawing back the covers.
Allen watched Kanda for a moment, smiling weakly when the older boy looked at him. Allen then reluctantly got up and left through the adjoining door, closing it softly behind him.

Letting out a sigh, Allen leaned heavily against the door. It was so good to have Kanda back, alive; Even if nothing had changed between them. Allen scoffed at that, why would anything change? It was exactly like Kanda would suddenly express gratitude to anyone, - him least of all.

Allen yawned widely; the day had caught up with him it seemed. Begrudgingly, Allen pushed away from the door and made his way into the tiny bathroom, cleaning up quickly before padding silently back through the dark room, half noting that Lavi had not returned from the opposite room, before he slide underneath the warm covers.

---

Allen awoke to the sun stabbing at his sleep weakened eyes through a crack in the curtain. He groaned and rolled over, wanting to sleep more. But when he saw the bed next to him disheveled and empty, he begrudgingly got up to see where Lavi had gotten too.

He had checked everywhere in his room for the redheaded teen but to no avail. So with a trembling hand, he knocked on Kanda's door. He opened the door upon hearing a small grunt from on the other side. Kanda was sitting on the edge of the bed, re-wrapping a few bandages.
"Kanda…Have you seen Lavi?" Allen asked, his eyes mapping planes over Kanda's exposed torso.

Kanda finished tying off a bandage on his arm, before looking up at Allen.
Allen shifted uncomfortably, tensing up with the other exorcists eyes on him. Why was Kanda looking at him funny? Allen felt the heat rise to his cheeks at the penetrative gaze.
Kanda grunted looking away. "He went to receive a call from the order."

Allen felt his muscles unclench as he eased back into his comfort zone.
"Oh. A new mission?" He asked, trying half heartedly to strike some semblance of a conversation, but all he received in return was a shrug.

Silence passed between them, smothering. Allen felt awkward, he was about to leave when Lavi entered through the door.
"Allen!" Lavi greeted, but not before sending a quick glance at Kanda who hadn't even looked up to see who had entered.
Allen smiled in response. Thank god for Lavi.

Lavi sat on the other twin bed in the room across from Kanda, and motioned Allen over to them.
"I was just talking to Komui. He has another mission ready, but he requested that only I head out for it, and that you two begin making your way back to the order." Lavi summarized the conversation briefly, looking at the other two in the room.

"Why aren't we going on the mission?" Kanda asked after a pause.
"Komui wants to make sure you get back to the order and recuperate. He doesn't want you to ah – over exert yourself. To ensure that, he asked that Allen accompanies you, to make sure you follow his orders."
Kanda grunted, looking at Allen momentarily.

Lavi clapped his hands in conclusion when no more question arose.
"Well then, I have to go gather my gear. You two have..fun" Lavi grinned at the both of them as he stood up and made way to the other room.

Allen watched the other leave. He had an inkling that Lavi had been up to something, but he had no idea what. He was about to head over to help Lavi pack, but stopped when the other appeared in the door frame.
"I'm going to close one of the rooms when I leave. Are you guys staying here another night or do you want me to check out both rooms?" Lavi asked, eyes sweeping across both teens.

Allen looked at Kanda. He was ready to leave whenever, but Kanda was still quite injured.
Kanda caught Allen's questioning gaze and turned to Lavi. "We'll stay."
Lavi was silent a moment before a smile spread widely across his face "Okay then!"

Allen cringed as the other ducked out of the room again.
"He's up to something…" he murmured in affirmation to himself.
"You noticed?"

Allen jumped at Kanda's voice, he hadn't expected the other to hear him let alone deem it worthy of a reply.
"Ah…yeah. He seems a little too…," Allen paused trying to think of a word.
"thrilled?" Kanda remarked.
"yeah!" Allen responded, once again baffled that Kanda was freely responding to him.

The room fell quiet again within seconds. Allen stood awkwardly watch Kanda as he put away the medical supplies.
Suddenly, the awkwardness in the room seemed over bearing and Allen mumbled an excuse and headed into the other room.

Lavi was humming as he drew the strings closed on his luggage. Allen ignored him and started grabbing his own belongings and shoving them into his own bag.
As he finished putting the last item in his bag, he looked up and met Lavi's gaze.
"…what?" Allen asked after a moment.
Lavi looked away. "Nothing".

Allen glared at the other. He knew he was up to something, or even worse – had already done something. He wanted to ask, but Lavi could be extraordinarily resilient in some cases; he figured this was one of them.

Allen sighed and carried his luggage into the room he would be sharing with Kanda. Setting it on top of the unoccupied bed. He was about to ask Kanda, who was lounging on his own bed, how long he figured they would be staying in the inn so he could inform the owner about the change, when Lavi popped his head in through the doorway.

"Don't you two look all cozy Yuu~!" Lavi grinned.
"Shut-up you stupid rabbit." Kanda grunted, rolling away from Lavi.
"Aw come on Yuu, don't be all cold."
"Don't call me Yuu."

Lavi grinned at the others back, before turning to Allen.
"Moyashii~"
Allen glared.

"Don't call me that!"
"You don't mind when Yuu does it. So why can't I?"
"Because!" Allen hissed, his face heating up. Kanda was in the room!

Lavi chuckled as he moved toward Allen who was bristling like a cat with anger.
He leaned in close to Allen's ear;
"I told him."

Allen blinked, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion before he stiffened with a horrible realization.
"WHAT?!" No, there was no way Lavi could have done that to him. That was just too harsh. He couldn't have told Kanda that he…that…he…
Allen could feel hot angry tears brimming at his eyes as he looked at up at Lavi; who had the decency to look ashamed.

Lavi was about to say something but was cut off by Kanda's harsh words.
"Get the fuck out you stupid rabbit."
Lavi nodded his head, backing out of the room, casting a final apologetic look at Allen who still stood trembling as he clenched his fists looking at the floor.
The door closed with an audible click.

Allen squeezed his eyes tight, trying to rid himself of the tears.
"How long…are we planning to stay here?" He choked out after a minute.
"Another day at least." Kanda answered after a pause.

Allen nodded and quickly headed out of the room.

---

Allen had gone down to the front desk, glad to see that Lavi had already left the building.
He extended the room board for another night, and smiled politely as the woman asked how his friend was holding up.
"He's doing just fine, thank-you."

Allen smiled again before heading out of the inn. He couldn't go back in there right now.
He couldn't believe that Lavi had told Kanda his secret. He felt betrayed.

He felt the hot tears returning and headed distractedly out of the tiny village. Allen walked for a bit, keeping the town within his sights, before he slumped against a tree and let the tears fall.
He shoulders shook as his sobs wracked his body, he sniffled.

Allen cried for what felt like hours, and it must have been, for as he stood up his joints creaked in protest. He wiped his eyes roughly with his sleeves before glancing up at the sky, which had grown dark with the promise of rain; and sure enough, before Allen could even get back within the village limits, it had started to down pour.

Allen had run the remainder of the way to the inn, but it didn't stop him from getting soaked anyway.

When Allen opened the door to his room, it was dark. Figuring that Kanda was asleep or resting, he shuffled blindly through the room.
Only to bump into what he figured was one of the beds, and fall awkwardly on top of it.

He groaned inwardly, and moved to push himself off of the bed when a light snapped on.

Allen tilted his head; Kanda was propped up on one arm looking at him inquiringly.
He mumbled a brief 'sorry' and shambled off to the bathroom.

When Allen emerged from the bathroom,he padded silently into the room, his hair now damp from the shower.

Kanda had left the small lamp light on, his back turned to it so he could sleep.
Allen chewed his lip apprehensively as he grabbed something to sleep in from his bag.

He glanced at Kanda once again, watching for a sign of him being awake. Finding none, he dropped the towel and clambered quickly into his choice clothing. He took the towel back into the bathroom, draping it over the rod provided before turning out the light.

Approaching the bed again, Allen moved his bag to the floor quietly, before wiggling under the covers and reaching out with one arm to turn off the light.
Allen sighed heavily as he sunk into the pillow. Idly he wondered what direction he and Kanda would take back to the Order. He glanced over at the other in thought, tracing the outline of the other's sleeping form in the dark. The other shifted, and embarrassed he rolled over and closed his eyes quickly, pulling the covers close to him.

---

Allen trudged along behind Kanda. They had gotten up about four hours ago, quickly checking out of the inn, avoiding the potential questions as to why Kanda was already more than half healed.

Allen sighed as he picked up the pace. He was tense; he couldn't stop wondering why Kanda had not yet confronted him about what Lavi had told him. In fact, Kanda had not spoken a single word to him since they had awoken, it wasn't all that unusual but in light of the situation, Allen was somewhat hurt by the silence. He must be disgusted. Finding out that I like him…

He was so enraptured in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that Kanda had stopped, and ended up bumping right into him.

Allen fell backwards with a weak yelp, startled at the sudden contact. He looked up, only to meet Kanda's cold glare.
"What's with you?" Kanda growled, still staring at Allen.

Allen blinked in confusion.
"che. You have been acting…weird even before we left the inn." Kanda continued angrily.
Allen felt his own anger rise.
"You expect me to act normal? Even after what Lavi told you? Well I'm sorry Kanda it's kind of hard. You haven't said anything; good or bad about me liking you. So excuse me if I'm a little off kilter!" Allen ended up yelling.

This time it was Kanda's turn to blink in confusion.
"…what?"
Allen stopped, and looked at Kanda. The other was standing in front of him looking rather awkward.
At Kanda's next words, Allen felt his heart practically stop dead in his chest.
" So it's true..."


A/N:
I'm sorry guys, I really tried to not end it in a cliff hanger just in case...but...it seemed inevitable.
I don't know if you can tell that I haven't been writing at all in that year..so through this un-betaed chapter I hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit.

I actually managed to get this done within..I think it was about 2 days, so it is a little rushed, but I felt like I was on a roll. So who knows, maybe by Sunday I'll have another chapter up? (:

Any way, Please review this time.
I want your opinions on anything and everything.
- If you guys are still interested in the story and what not.

* oh. and sorry for the lengthy A/N at the beginning.
thanks for reading.