Author's Notes:

This chapter was half finished for quite a long time, but this lazy Sunday morning allowed me to finish it! :D

Some small, but important things happen and Ellen and Kanda take another step towards a better relationship. You'll see ;3

I had a hard time coming up with a title and the one I chose is stupid. *lol*

Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino

Kapitel 47: Spreading the news

Malcolm Leverrier watched how his niece passed through the lounge from the balcony of the upper floor. The cheerful smile on her face as she pulled her husband through the hall made him frown. The fact that she had entered the Black Order without him knowing was more than just a bit unsettling to him. He had sworn to his friend to be a good God-father to his only child. Allowing her to be part of this danger was disastrous, especially since there was much more to it than just the threat of coming to harm when fighting Akuma. She was the Musician of the Ark now and Leverrier didn't really want to think about what that eventually meant for Ellen.

"And now this…!" he hissed in irritation, gripping the cold stone of the balcony's railing, watching the couple.

"Inspector?" Link, who was dutifully standing behind the tall man, asked when he heard him mumbling.

"Hm. It is nothing," Leverrier said and looked down again. The two young people were still loitering around the end of the lounge, Ellen was apparently talking with Kanda Yu. The white haired girl was holding something in her hand, but Leverrier couldn't make out what it was from the distance, but he could see that Ellen was frowning. The girl looked up after a while, as if she had felt his gaze on her, and spotted Leverrier. Her face lit up and she waved at him. The inspector lifted his hand to wave back, but on a second thought he decided that he would like to speak to her, so he beckoned to her to join him.

"Is there something the matter with Ellen Walker?" Link wondered as he saw the two exorcists turning to the stairs that led to the upper floor.

"No. I just need to talk to her," Leverrier replied and Link nodded.

-

"Just forget the necklace, if the Lord's rich then he won't whine about one lost piece of jewellery," Kanda said while they were walking up the stairs. Ellen still looked unhappy. She had forgotten to send the necklace off with the letter. Of course, she didn't really feel bad for Tyki because of it, but she also had no need of one of his presents. "More importantly, what does Leverrier want from you?" Ellen put the necklace into the pocket of her skirt, then she looked at Kanda.

"I do not know, maybe there is something to discuss," she replied and on a second thought she added: "there are actually a lot of things to discuss, but I do not really feel up to thinking about it…" Kanda didn't have a hard time guessing that she was talking about the accusations of allying herself with a Noah and her ability to use the Ark. Kanda was not sure what to think about it either, but he knew that he was not that preoccupied about it. Ellen was no traitor, he knew.

"Hello, uncle!" Ellen greeted Leverrier and he nodded at her, "Do you need something of me?"

"I wanted to talk to you – to you both, now that both of you are here – about your marriage," he said, then he held out his hand, "why don't you join me in my office?"

"Of course," Ellen replied and looked at Kanda, "will you come as well?" The dark haired exorcist nodded even though he wasn't entirely convinced that Leverrier wanted him to be present.

"Well then, follow me," Leverrier said and started walking down the corridor, the other three followed obediently. "You haven't written to your mother yet I assume?" Leverrier asked and Ellen shook her head. "I see."

"I still do not know how to convey the news, but I feel bad about not doing so. She should know…," Ellen confessed with a sigh and Leverrier looked over his shoulder.

"Do not concern yourself over that. I will tell her in your stead," he replied and he came to a halt in front of a wooden door. "Maybe that is for the best." He opened the door and went in.

"I am not sure, uncle… General Cross said that it would be best not to tell her for the moment. She does not even know where exactly I live and what I do here. How should she understand that I married an exorcist and why it was necessary?" Leverrier sat down behind his massive writing table and looked at Ellen with questioning eyes.

"Take a seat," he ordered and Ellen and Kanda did as they were told, sitting on the couch in front of the table. Link remained standing, watching Ellen. "Did I just hear you say necessary?" Leverrier asked and Ellen widened her eyes, realizing her mistake. She turned her head to look at Kanda but he merely glared ahead. "Tell me why it was necessary. I did think that it was strange for you to marry an exorcist. They are all far below you considering your standing and the fact that you had the prospect of becoming a Lord's wife," he said, studying them both.

"The engagement with the Lord was called off, I have no interest in marrying him," Ellen replied and Leverrier frowned.

"What a strange way for you to be thinking, Ellen. It seems foolish and haughty to me to refuse such a good match for no reason I can yet discern…," he replied, which caused Ellen to blush slightly.
"I did not mean to be arrogant, I am sorry if I seemed like it," she said and Leverrier sighed, waving dismissingly.

"No, no. It's fine. You must have had your reasons. I asked Cross about it, but he would only give vague, cheeky answers. I don't know why he told you to marry and why he arranged it to take place so fast. I just expected you to be so in love that it turned you blind. But now I hear you say that it was necessary." Ellen remained silent, too nervous to actually say something. After a while, Kanda leant down just a little to whisper in her ear.

"Do you want me to tell him?" he asked silently, but Ellen shook her head. "Will you do it yourself, then?" The white haired girl took a deep breath and nodded. Leverrier took notice of it and waited patiently for his niece to explain herself.

"Both my husband and I are exorcists… There is no telling when we will be separated by missions and there is no guarantee that we will always come back alive...," she started to explain and Leverrier nodded.

"So far I can follow," he said, rightly guessing that there was more to it, "continue."

"Yes, uncle," Ellen said, now more firmly, looking up at him, "I know that it is not proper to engage in any intimacy when unmarried, but we did…" Leverrier raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing. "And I became pregnant…," Ellen concluded, blushing, but keeping her firm look. Leverrier continued looking at Ellen and Kanda with a stern expression and remained silent for quite a while.

"I see…," he remarked and Ellen looked up at him with a troubled expression. Such a calm, emotionless reply again!

"Is that all that you have to say? Uncle…!"

"What do you want to hear, Ellen? Praise or reprimand? To tell you the truth I am quite a bit disappointed to see that my niece wasn't raised to make better judgement. I don't really know what to do with you…," he stood up from his chair and walked over to her. She looked up at him and he placed his hand on her head. He spoke no words and Ellen was too surprised to feel that simple caress instead of receiving a stern lecture. After a while he withdrew his hand and walked away.

"Link?"

"Yes, Inspector?" the young man replied while Leverrier already opened the door.

"Stay close to Ellen from now on," he said, then he slammed the door shut behind him. Apparently he was angrier than he let on. However, for the moment Ellen was glad that his anger was not directed at her. Link looked down at Ellen with an unsure expression which she mimicked.
"Well," he started, "upon Leverrier's order I will stay by your side from now on." He seemed slightly uncomfortable and Ellen could understand him. She wasn't comfortable with her uncle's reaction either and she really didn't understand why her pregnancy would make her uncle continue her supervision.

"What the hell is going on? Why should he stick close to you now?" Kanda complained in an annoyed tone, glaring at Link.
"It's an order," was the only reply he received and Kanda snorted.

-

Ellen and Kanda decided that now that also Leverrier was aware of both their marriage and Ellen's pregnancy, there was no more sense in trying to keep it a secret.

"But I do not want to go around telling everybody that I am now married to you. And on top of that pregnant," Ellen argued, as they were making their way to the Science Division.

"Tch. That's so like you. You're too modest, or are you ashamed?" Kanda asked in annoyance. Ellen wanted to protest but Kanda continued, "like when everyone thought that you were a boy. You never bothered to correct anyone." Ellen laughed uneasily, but Kanda frowned at her.

"I told you that I never meant to fool anyone... I just didn't want you to think of me as a weak girl, I rather wanted to be a weak boy in your eyes because that way you would continue to train me. That's why I took advantage of your ignorance..." Kanda rolled his eyes in annoyance, but as she had a point, he didn't argue with her anymore.

"Ellen," Link spoke up and Ellen turned around, "as all the documents falsely stated your sex to be male, I would like to inquire why there was this confusion."

"Well... I am not that pretty...," she started but Link frowned and Kanda huffed in annoyance.

"Certainly that could not have been the case," the young man said. Ellen laughed, feeling a little bit flattered.

"It was General Cross that decided for me to appear at the Black Order dressed in w hat I would call male attire. I first thought he had decided on it merely because it was more practical than the skirt I had chosen. But I think he did it to conceal my background, so that my family would be protected..."

"I see...," Link said, nodding, then he fell into silence again, following the two exorcists.

"You sure about telling Komui?" Kanda asked when they were in front of Komui's offer and Ellen nodded.

"Maybe he already knows from Linali. We will see. We need to tell him so that we can rearrange our rooms," she said and Kanda raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Why you ask?" Ellen wondered, "your room still has a broken window even though I've told you twice to have it fixed." Kanda groaned, "And do you not want to share a room with me?" To that Kanda looked surprised, but snorted with slightly red cheeks. "And maybe Mister Link also needs a room?"

"If my duty to not leave your side is to be continued for a longer time then I really do," Link replied and Ellen nodded, but Kanda was very annoyed.

"I won't allow you to be too close to her," he warned, but Link merely looked at him coolly.

"If my duty is to keep watch over her I will, no matter how you might disagree with it," he explained and Ellen raised her hands to try to prevent them from arguing.

"Please, there is no need to worry about it. I am your wife, Kanda, I do not think that my uncle would want me and Mr. Link to share a room. Right?" Link nodded shortly.

"It would not be proper," Link said to that, "I do not think that the Inspector plans to go this far." Kanda, despite hearing this, was not entirely appeased by that. As far as he was concerned, Link and Leverrier should just go back to where they had come from. Ellen, with one last look at Kanda and Link, to ascertain that there would be no more arguments, knocked and opened the door to Komui's office. Komui was walking around his office for a change and he looked troubled.

"Oh, Ellen!" he said and Ellen almost feared that he already was aware of what she wanted to report. "You're still being supervised, are you! I am so sorry that I couldn't prevent it!" Ellen looked at him in wonder and raised her hands.

"Do not worry about me, I do not really consider it to be a supervision."

"But Leverrier...," he started and Ellen smiled to calm him down, "he said that you were suspected of heresy..."

"I am not in any immediate danger, right, Mr. Link?" Ellen asked, turning towards Link who nodded stiffly. "You must know that Mister Leverrier just wants to protect me." At that Komui looked really surprised and doubtful.

"Did he tell you that? Ellen... This is a heresy suspicion, you cannot possibly take this lightly." Here Kanda snorted and Komui looked at him.

"It's as she said. She is in no danger. Ellen is Leverrier's niece," the dark haired exorcist said, much to Komui's surprise.

"What? Are you serious? You're related?" Ellen nodded.

"He is my godfather," she explained and Komui let himself drop into his armchair, looking both incredulous but also relieved.

"How can that be? That' such a big coincident!"

"But certainly a favourable one," Kanda said and Komui had to agree, sighing with a smile.

"I'm a bit easier now that I heard that... Who would have thought! So that's what Cross meant...," he mumbled, but then he looked up at the three youths. "Did you want something from me?" Ellen nodded.

"We wanted to tell you something," Ellen started, "might we take a seat?"

"Yes, yes of course!" Komui said, pointing to the couch in front of his table. Ellen and Kanda sat down, Link remained standing next to Ellen. Komui shot him a wary look, but Link ignored him. "And what is the matter?"

"Kanda and I wanted to tell you of our relationship," Ellen confessed and Komui nodded, smiling.

"I though that you two had formed a bond. I was a bit surprised though, for Kanda to become attached to Ellen," he said and laughed, "I was first afraid that you might have an interest in my darling Linali! That would of course have been absolutely impossible though!" Kanda rolled his eyes, but Ellen looked at Kanda questioningly.

"You had...?" Ellen asked in a hushed tone, but Kanda just patted her head and she refrained from asking about it.

"Anyway, there's more to it than that. Ellen and I are married now, expecting a child," Kanda said bluntly, and Ellen took a moment to realize that he had now blurted everything out that she would have wanted to put in a more delicate wording. Accordingly, Komui also just looked at him in wonder, not immediately getting what he had said, but when he did he just opened his mouth in apparent shock, unable to form words for a moment.

"You're married?" Kanda nodded, "and you'll be parents?" Here Ellen nodded as well, darting an uneasy look at Kanda. "But you're so young!"

"We did not plan to. My pregnancy was not wanted by either one of us, but as it happened why decided that a marriage, even though it was rushed and conducted in secret – but with the consent of both General Tiedoll and General Cross – would be best for us both. I am sorry for not informing you beforehand," Ellen explained, bowing her head slightly in order to apologize. Komui still looked baffled, but he regained his composure.

"Well... Well you two... I'm not really sure what to say. To have a child in these circumstances...," he started and Ellen looked up uneasily.

"We know it is unfortunate... But we cannot undo it... Therefore, can you give us any advice?" she wondered and Komui sighed, looking tired again.

"Just try to feel comfortable while you're here. I won't try to stop your relationship, seeing as you're already made arrangements, but it really pains me that I cannot guarantee your safety either..."

"Do not feel bad about it. I am prepared to go on fighting as long as I can," Ellen promised but Komui didn't feel better upon hearing that. "But can I ask you for a favour?"

"I'll try to do my best," Komui promised with a gentle smile and Ellen returned it.

"If you allow it, Kanda and I would like to have a room together," she said and Komui looked surprised, "is that even possible?"

"I don't think we have rules contradicting it, but are you sure? Don't you think you need some sort of privacy?" Komui wondered and Ellen smiled uneasily.

"We are married... I think it is proper for a married couple to share rooms," she said and Kanda snorted, while Komui sighed slightly.

"Very well, I'll arrange a room for you two," he agreed and Ellen thanked him.

"There is something else," she went on and Komui raised an eyebrow, "Mister Link is charged with keeping watch over me. We do not know for how long this has to go on, therefore would you provide accommodations for him as well? Preferably in the vicinity of my new room," she said.

"What...?" Komui asked and looked at Link suspiciously, but the young man merely nodded. "Is that Leverrier's order?"

"It was his order for me to stay close to her," Link replied and Komui frowned, but he nodded stiffly.

"It will be arranged," he said and Ellen thanked him yet again. "Ellen?" he asked when Ellen was already getting up. When she looked at him he continued: "When did you get pregnant? Did you have a medical check-up yet?" Ellen hesitated to answer, because she was a bit ashamed, but she did it anyway:

"It was more than three month ago and Bak Chan already did a check up on me... I prevented him from telling you though...," she confessed and Komui, certainly surprised that her pregnancy was not more recent, but making no comment on it, nodded.

"That's fine. But you might want to make arrangements with the matron, because I doubt the infirmary staff is prepared for such a task... There hasn't been a child born in the Black Order before."

"Maybe the war will already be won by the time the child is born," Ellen said with a smile and Komui looked at her in surprise. But her confident smile calmed him and he nodded.

"Let's hope so. Fine, you can go. I'll try to provide new rooms for tonight," he promised and Ellen thanked him, then they left the office.

-

"I actually feel less tense now," Ellen confessed when they were making their way to the dining hall. It was time to have dinner and Ellen was rather hungry, so they had decided to fetch something nice to eat. Kanda was not really content to have Link walking next to Ellen, not intensely looking at her, but he was watching. He wondered how exactly this would work out. "What about you?"

"I don't care. At least you don't try to hide it any longer, that's a progress...," Kanda replied and Ellen pouted a bit. "It's fine. Don't pull that face. You're not doing it for me, are you?"

"Well, I am partly doing it for you. But let us just say that I am doing it for us," Ellen replied and Kanda looked at her, then he nodded. Ellen smiled cheerfully, glad that he agreed. For Ellen, it was important that they looked like a decent couple in front of Howard Link. He knew of the circumstances now, but it still mattered to Ellen. The dining hall was quite crowded, but they still were able to find empty seats after ordering their food.

"Mister Link, have you already eaten?" Ellen wondered when she saw that the inspector had only ordered desserts.

"This is my dinner," he replied and Kanda frowned, visibly put off by all the sweets set in front of Link. He had taken his usual food, while Ellen had taken the usual amounts, all the bowls and plates crowding their table. Kanda avoided watching the two eating, because it somehow made him lose appetite.

"I wonder what kind of room we will receive. Do you think they will," Ellen inched a bit closer to Kanda, continuing in a more quiet voice, "give us one bed for us to share?" Kanda frowned and shrugged, seeing with a little bit of satisfaction how Link busied himself with eating cake after he had heard Ellen's question.

"We're married, so why not?"

"We're part of a religious organization," Ellen retorted and she looked over to Link, "do you know, Mister Link? Are there any rules concerning relationships within the order?" The young man wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded. If he felt uneasy about the topic he had successfully managed to cover it with his usually calm expression.

"There are no rules which forbid the forming of relationships within the Black Order, as long as they are not going against any moral obligations. Seeing as you are married there should be no problems. However, I think it would be wisest to be prudent. The order does not forbid, but it does not encourage it either because of the importance of each and every exorcist for the winning of the war," he explained and Ellen nodded.

"They do not want us to abandon our mission for the sake of our relationship," she said, "but we do not plan to. Right?"

"No," Kanda replied, "but still, it would be better for you to stop fighting. You're a girl. And you're in no state to fight…" Ellen smiled, putting her hand on Kanda's reassuringly.

"You know I cannot do that...," she said with a gentle smile and Kanda nodded. "Oh! And to prove that a girl in my condition can fight perfectly well, how about we train tomorrow morning! We have not done so for such a long time!" Kanda looked at her suspiciously, but he nodded. It was actually quite good that she still insisted on fighting and getting stronger, it was only bound to get more demanding from now on. And Kanda had no idea if pregnant women were weaker or could fight less. "So it is decided, we will tr-" Ellen could not finish her sentence as she was suddenly grabbed by the collar of her blouse and dragged away from the bench. When she looked up with wide eyes she found Cross glaring down at her, obviously a bit out of breath.

"Master!" she exclaimed and Kanda and Link were equally surprised.

"You troublemaker!" Cross hissed and started to drag her out of the dining hall, under the many confused eyes of the other people. Link sprung up immediately and Kanda followed suit.

"General Cross! You are not allowed out of your room and you are forbidden from talking to Ellen Walker!"

"Shut up," Cross hissed and continued dragging Ellen, who was trying to stumble after her master, along the corridor. Before Link could argue more, Cross opened a door and pushed Ellen in, shutting it behind himself. Link banged his fists on the door, but Cross was sure to lock it properly. Ellen blinked in surprise and looked around. They were in a random study, where lot of boxes were standing around. It probably wasn't used much, but Cross didn't care; any room with just a bit of privacy for a few moments would do.

"What is the meaning of this, General?" Ellen demanded, unnerved by his confusing behaviour. There was still the hammering of Link on the door, which only furthered Ellen's worry.

"You told Leverrier about your marriage and pregnancy," Cross hissed and Ellen nodded, "and he had nothing better to do than accusing me of being the one responsible for all the trouble you brought upon yourself and on top of that to call your mother!" Ellen widened her eyes, gasping in surprise.

"He called my mother?!" she shrieked and Cross nodded with an annoyed expression. "Oh no! What now!?"

"I could prevent the worst. She actually was about to leave London to come right here to send me to hell and you right back to your home," he said and Ellen, very pale after hearing that, couldn't say anything, just shook her head. Cross groaned in annoyance.

"But she won't come, will she?" Ellen asked frantically and Cross shrugged, "General! She must not come!! She would not understand!"

"Oh, she understands pretty well," Cross retorted, but before Ellen could ask anything else, the door suddenly opened, the lock bursting, and Leverrier rushed into the room, seizing Cross by the arm.

"General, you are not allowed to talk to my niece!" he hissed and Cross rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Uncle! Is it true that you talked to my mother?" Leverrier merely looked at her, but she knew that it was the truth, "You shouldn't have!"

"I think she should be aware of what her daughter has gotten herself into! Now you must excuse me, this man should no longer be allowed to be near you!" Leverrier shoved Cross out of the door, but the red-haired General was not complaining.

"Uncle, why won't you allow me to talk to my master?" Ellen asked but Leverrier didn't reply as he, still holding on to Cross, left. She girl groaned in frustration.

"What is going on?" Kanda asked and Ellen turned to him, her eyes glistening a bit, but she kept herself from crying.

"My uncle told my mother," she said and Kanda widened his eyes, "and my master just managed to stop her from coming here! Imagine what would have happened if my mother had come to the Black Order!"

"She doesn't know that you're an exorcist, right?" he asked and Ellen shook her head frantically.

"No! No, my mother doesn't know anything! She doesn't know what Innocence is! She doesn't know what exorcists are! Mother and Mana are just two normal people! It was me! I was the strange one, they knew nothing!" Ellen said and Kanda grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards him.

"Don't get so worked up over it, it's okay," he told her. Ellen clenched her fists and tried to calm herself. After a while she nodded and Kanda let go of her.

"Thank you Kanda… I just got scared all of a sudden… All of these accusations and now my mother wanting to come here…" Ellen sighed deeply, putting her palm to her forehead. "It just makes me worry…" She looked over to Link. "Will you be able to tell me more about the accusations? I need to put the pieces together to understand my place in all of this a bit better," she said. Link looked surprised at first, but he nodded.

"Are you sure, beansprout?" Kanda asked dubiously and Ellen nodded.

"Yes, I must know. I am not allowed to talk to my master, therefore I must conclude that he would have things to tell me that I should not know about," she replied, "I must figure this out on my own, I do not want to drag anybody in."

"This is very remarkable of you," Link commented, "it is best to deal with this problem now." Kanda glared at him in irritation but Ellen simply smiled and nodded.

"But not today. I am tired. I think I will have to retreat to bed early today," she said and Link nodded. "What about you, Kanda? Will you come with me?"

"We'll look for the room, maybe Komui's already done arranging it," he replied and they decided to go to the living quarters.

On the board to the entrance they could see the plan of the rooms and actually found that Komui had been very quick.

"It's on the other end of the living quarters," Ellen said, pointing her finger to the spot on the plan. "Ah, Howard Link. Mr. Link, you're right next to our room, do you think this acceptable?"

"Indeed," Link commented and Kanda kept himself from disagreeing – at least he was not sleeping in their room as well. When he looked at Ellen he saw her frowning.

"What's the matter?"

"Read what they wrote. Kanda Yu and Ellen…" Kanda raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"What about it?"

"They could have written Ellen Walker!"

"Don't go splitting hairs now, beansprout. It's a fact, so stop complaining," he told her and Ellen sighed dramatically, but she decided to just let it be. Kanda was right, she didn't need to get worked up over it. But the idea of everyone being able to see their change in relationship so obviously did make her nervous.

The three of them walked to their new rooms, finding the keys in the keyholes. Kanda opened the door and went in, Ellen following, while Link went into his own room.

"Oh! I like it!" was the first thing Ellen exclaimed, while Kanda still stood around indecisively. The room was twice as big as the usual ones, the floor was not made of stone but of wooden tiles covered with rugs at places. The high walls were painted in a white colour and there were two big windows showing outside. They had a writing table and a shelf with books. There were also two armchairs with a narrow table between them and on the right wall stood a big bed with two night tables next to it. Ellen went to the wardrobe next to the door and pulled it open, finding her and Kanda's clothes already neatly arranged.

"Oi, beansprout," Kanda called and she looked at him. He held up a white piece of paper and Ellen joined him to read it.

"What does it say?"

"It's from Komui," Kanda said, "Dear Kanda and Ellen. I hope the room is to your liking. There's still enough space to add a cot if it will become necessary. Let's hope the war won't last as long." Kanda put the note down and walked to the bed, finding his precious hourglass standing next to the night table, so that he could always see it when he woke up.

"That's really nice," Ellen said, then she spotted another door and went to open it. She peeked into the next room and found Link looking at her. "Ah! Excuse me Mister Link!"

"I guessed that these rooms were connected," Link replied calmly, putting the book he had looked at back into the shelf.

"Tch. That idiot, why did they need to be connected?" Kanda complained but Ellen didn't mind that much.

"We do not need to keep the door open, Kanda. There is a key after all." Kanda was still not convinced and sat down in front of the writing table, sourly pulling a book towards him. Ellen sighed and shook her head.

"Do you think my uncle will approve?" she wondered and Link nodded.

"I just have to make sure that you will not leave the Black Order or do things contrary to the Order's wishes. This is enough to make sure of it," he replied and Ellen nodded.

"Then excuse me please, I will now go to bed," she said and Link nodded.
"Good Night," he said and Ellen also wished him a good night, then she closed the door.

"Lock it," Kanda said and Ellen frowned.

"That would be rude!" Kanda groaned but didn't get up to lock it himself. Ellen sighed and went to the wardrobe, pulling out her nightgown. She started undressing after darting a look at Kanda – who was still reading and not taking notice of what his wife was doing.

"Which side do you want to sleep on?" Ellen asked but Kanda just shrugged.

"The one you don't sleep on," he replied and Ellen laughed. She lifted the covers and snug into the bed, finding it very comfortable.

"You are not tired then?"

"I'm reading," Kanda said.

"Well then, do not forget to switch off the light when you are done," she reminded him and Kanda suddenly shut the book, getting up from his chair. Ellen sat up in bed, looking what Kanda was doing. He switched off the main light, leaving Ellen with the little lamp on her night table and a small reading light that stood on the table by the armchairs. He then walked over to her, sitting on the mattress. "Kanda, what…," the girl started, but Kanda bent down and put a kiss on her lips.

"Good night," he said, then he went to one of the armchairs, sitting down and opening the book again.

"Oh… Good night, Kanda," Ellen said, still a bit confused. She switched off the light and closed her eyes, feeling surprisingly good to have him there, watching over her sleep.

-

To be continued

-

Notes:

Yes, not much to say now. X3

It might take me a bit longer to update because I shouldn't allow myself to type any stories next week; I have the dead-line for my seminar paper approaching! *wails*