"Stray"
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Fandom: -man
Chapter: Seven
Rating: T
Pairing: Kanda x Allen

A/N:
AHAHAHAHA.
THIS TOOK LONG ENOUGH.
-bricked-

ANYWAY.

Shinigami Hunter and I made a deal with each other that we would both update our stories today, on the 22nd. God knows I barely made it, I'm sorry, I was NOT counting on my mom forbidding be from using the computer for half the day ____;;

BUT, UH. ANYWAY.

Go check out her fic, Experimental, Irreplaceable, because it's made of more win than you'll ever be.

SO YEAH.

I apologize for the short and crappy chapter, I had to rush this chapter a lot. I'll defiantly make the next one better AND ACTUALLY HAVE SOME PLOT IN IT LOLOLOLOL –bricked-

Uhm. Standard warnings/disclaimer's apply, if you're reading this chapter you'll know them all by now, I hope 8D

WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.

Enjoy~

"…"

"…Lavi, may I ask you where we're going?"

The only reply Allen received was a slightly feral look flashed his way from the redhead who was merrily skipping ahead of him. The white-haired boy sighed, pushing his gloved hands deeper into the pockets of the heavy coat Lavi has lent him. "…Kanda, do you know where we're going?"

Said Asian was currently trudging along directly behind Allen, seething with so much rage that the younger teen could almost feel is radiating off the older. "Che. Like hell if I ever know what the stupid rabbit is up to next."

And then there was silence. The rough cobblestone sidewalk buckled suddenly as Allen walked along it and he tripped, yelping as he barely managed to keep his face free of intimate contact with the stony ground. An irritated growl behind him urged him to regain his balance and he hurried ahead, an oblivious Lavi still hopping away in front of them both.

"Moron. Can't you walk ten feet without tripping over your own feet? Clumsy idiot."

Allen whirled around and scowled, his sudden stop nearly causing Kanda to crash into him. "That was the first time I've tripped this entire time!" he huffed, indignant, staring right up into the tall man's angry face. "Can't you go a few seconds without insulting me?"

Kanda twitched. The little beansprout thought he could argue with him? "Don't tell me what to do, you little stray. Watch your mouth."

Allen blinked. "….stray."

"Yes. Stray. Like a lost dog, except stupider."

"Don't call me stupid-!!"

"Hey, sorry to butt into your lover's quarrel, but we're, uh, here." Both arguing boys whipped their heads around to glare at the redhead, who was grinning at them from a little ways ahead, thumbing to something just down the road, out of Kanda and Allen's field of vision. Curiosity overwhelming his anger at Kanda, the white-haired teen scampered forward to where Lavi was standing, a soft sound reaching his ears that slowly became louder until he stood at Lavi's side, staring down the road with utter amazement obvious in his face.

"…this…this is…"

For a second, Allen wasn't standing next to Lavi – his mind transported him back to a small, throwaway conversation, four days ago;

"Kanda, Kanda!"

"What."

"I was checking the city notice board today, Kanda, and there was a poster there!"

"That's what the notice board is for, idiot bean sprout."

"Yes, Kanda, I know that, but this was a poster advertising a circus!"

"And why should I care about circuses? They're smelly, noisy and annoying."

"Because they're fun! They're full of animals and acrobats and magic and wonder and lots and lots of other really cool stuff! Well, at least…that's what I've heard…"

"…what?" Kanda had caught up to them and was now standing behind Allen once more, clicking his tongue at the utterly bemused expression on Allen's face. "Did your brain cease to function? No, wait, that would require you to have a brain in the first place…"

"…you remembered."

Kanda snorted as Allen slowly turned around to face him, the younger boy practically trembling with whatever emotion that was running through his veins. "So what?"

"…you remembered!"

"O' course he did, sprout!" Lavi chimed, jovially nudging Allen in the shoulder, his grin widening even more (if that was possible). "This was his idea, after all. Cus, y'know, he said you said you'd never been to a circus before and god, you can't go through your life without seeing a circus - although this is actually a carnival, silly, you musta read the flyer wrong…'ey, 'Sprout, he's going to chop you in half if you do tha'!"

But Allen wasn't listening, as he had already flung himself at the totally unprepared Kanda, throwing his arms around the older teen's neck laughing like a neglected child who'd been given a new toy. Kanda, caught off guard, looked as if he was ready to commit murder, but managed to suck up his pride long enough to begrudgingly wrap his own arms around Allen's small frame, supporting the scrawny boy so that he didn't fall to the ground. "What the hell, beansprout?! Get off of me!"

And Lavi laughed as well, snickering at the utterly adorable sight in front of him, making sure to lock this scene away in his head for future blackmail material. The sounds from the carnival drifted up towards them, adding the perfect background music to the scene. "Yes, yes, but how about we drop the romantics for now and go have some fun, yeah?"

Allen, who was still giggling like a fool and clinging to Kanda, couldn't agree more.

--

And, well, it was fun.

Kanda had never done anything like this before. His whole life had been all about grades, training, anger, more anger, irritation, and more anger. Not once could he a recall a time where he had actually (loathe he to admit it) enjoyed himself. Allen had devoured so much food Kanda had begun to wonder where all the fucking fat went, since the white-haired boy was still skinny as a stick; Lavi had, somehow, managed to get himself drunk halfway through and the Japanese was forced to tow him along the rest of the time; at the younger's pleading, Kanda tried his hand at the cork-gun gallery, in which he (by pretending the stuffed animal was Lavi's head) managed to win Allen a giant stuffed yellow lab, which pleased the white-haired boy to no end – in fact, the dog (which Allen decided to call Timcampy, for whatever reason) seemed to be what Allen enjoyed the most about the trip, even though Lavi had earlier won a teddy roughly the same size from a ring toss that the younger had also been given.

Was it because the dog had been given to him by Kanda?

The three of them not sat at one of the many picnic tables scattered about carnival, Lavi dozing on Allen's shoulder while the white-haired boy stared off into the distance, a content expression on his face as Kanda watched him from the opposite side of the table. Next to Kanda were the two stuffed animals, which brought Kanda's mind back to pondering his earlier question.

But why was he even thinking about that in the first place?

Kanda snorted. He shouldn't be, that's what.

But every time he saw Allen's innocent, smiling face, those thoughts of his came flooding back.

And Kanda hated it. He hated the fact that this boy made him feel so…so happy, even while they were doing something Kanda would otherwise find no enjoyment taking part in. Like the carnival that Kanda had enjoyed, all because Allen just seemed so happy…

And he hated the fact that seeing Allen happy made him happy.

Because Kanda knew he could never make Allen this happy in return.

D'AW KANDA YER SO SWEET, FRETTING OVER YER BEANSPROUT LIKE THAT. 8D –bricked-

So, yeah. Apologizes for the lame, short, unsatisfying chapter. I swear I shall make the next one fiftybajillion times better.

I may rewrite this later and elaborate more on their carnival outing.

Or maybe make it a separate fic.

Any preferences, guys?

SO YEAH! Until next tiem,

-27