Claimer: I own all OC's. Not that they're any in this story...

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own D. Gray-Man. Otherwise, this would have happened a lot earlier in the manga.

Plot: Chapter fourteen.

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Allen smiled slightly, still silent, as if the silence was a physical manifestation, alive and fragile, and he was afraid to break it. But he did know one thing. He was wet, they were sitting on a wet floor, and if Kanda didn't get that pancake batter out of his hair soon, it was going to crust and clump up his hair. Allen slighly raised his hand and placed it over Kanda's bruise, refusing to let his doubts get to him, and spoke.

"Kanda? If you don't get that pancake batter out of your hair, it'll be hard to comb out." Allen said softly, smiling slightly. While Allen didn't mind being on top of Kanda, his ribs were starting to complain from their overuse, and Allen's face was starting to crack in places where pancake batter had dried on. All in all? Uncomfortable.

Kanda seemed to come back to earth at Allen's statement, blowing a strand of hair out of his face before sitting back and chuckling at the state of his kitchen. The neat freak in him? Just committed suicide. It must've have gotten the idea from Kanda's long gone sensibility. "Well it's smothered into your hair." It was harder to tell on Allen's hair, the white and the cream blended better than they should have. The only way to tell it was there was because it was sticking and making Allen's head look like a cheaply gelled mess. "My poor kitchen." He said with a mock sigh, glancing at Allen like this was all his fault. In all actuality, Kanda didn't remember what started this in the first place. He had only been trying to make breakfast after all.

Allen just smiled and wriggled his way off of Kanda, working his way to his knees and to standing. He turned and smiled at Kanda before using the nose extension and squeezing the small button over the two rectangles, slowly getting the batter out of his hair. It was a slow process, seeing as most of it had dried and had to be wet agian, then taken out of his hair. Once he was finally done, Allen flipped his hair to the side and squeezed it out until it was sort of dry. Then he stood back up and smiled at Kanda, grabbing some of the fluffy white stuff he had used for his bleeding incident and cleaning up the spilled pancake batter. After all, he had helped make this mess, he could help clean it up.

Kanda took a different approach. He filled the sink...and dunked his head in it. So much work for pointless vanity. The raven quickly started the painstaking process of washing his hair. It wasn't easy, and sometimes the long black tresses would get caught around the faucet, but Kanda got it done...and only realized after that that he needed a shower...He cursed under under his breath, squeezing as much water as he could out of his hair. Granted, it wasn't half as dry as Allen had gotten his in a similiar fashion, but it wasn't dripping too much. "I need a shower." Kanda said on his way to the bathroom. "Find a way to feed yourself, I'll be right back."

Allen shook his head and opened his mouth to say that he didn't know where anything was, but...by then Kanda was long gone, out of sight. To the shower Allen supposed. Well, what was he supposed to do with these clothes until then? He couldn't very well stay in them, could he? So, making his way back towards the bedroom (and glaring at the linen closet as he passed it), Allen made up his mind. He would borrow one of Kanda's shirts, and take off his own clothes. Allen found a really big T-shirt and stripped down to his boxers, then placing the T-shirt over. He hoped Kanda didn't mind...but he really needed to get out of those wet clothes.

Not ten minutes passed and Kanda came out of the shower, a towel on his head, and a robe tied to him. The raven yawned, rubbing the towel on his head to dry his hair out; school? Maybe they'd skip today... he certainly didn't feel like hauling himself up and heading to classes that he would most likely space out in. Maybe they could break in tomorrow and look for the crystal. Needless to say, Kanda... wasn't in a hurry to find it at the moment.

Kanda then saw Allen, clothed in one of his shirts. It was a bit loose on him, but fit better than what he wore to bed. "Oh, you changed already." He said, grabbing for something to wear himself. "Want me to wash your clothes?" Kanda doubted that Allen wanted to meet the Washing Machine...let alone the dryer.

Allen smiled and nodded, luckily only getting water spilled on him. Well, besides when he tripped and-

A light blush and a smile overcame Allen's features as he thought about exactly what happened when he tripped and spilled pancake batter all over his face. It was the best accident ever. Allen took the clothes that he folded up and handed them to Kanda, looking confused for a moment before asking a question.

"Kanda? How do you wash clothes in this world?"

"A washing machine." Kanda snorted. He was right, Allen hadn't a clue what the machine was. Well, he probably wouldn't want to see it, but he'd take an explination jus fine. "It's squre and you stick the clothes into the lid and it washes the clothes for you." Kanda wasn't sure what kind of picture that would give to Allen...it sort of described the microwave too, except the microwave cooked food for you..."If you're ready to go, you can come with me to stick them in the wash."

Allen smiled and nodded, wondering how in the world this "washing machine" washed clothes. You just stuck the clothes in there and it just...washed them? You didn't have to do anything to them? Allen wondered how big this square box was, but he didn't ask. After all, he was going to go see it. Following Kanda down the hallway and past the linen closet (which Allen glared at), Allen went into the laundry room. it was filled with two big metal squares. Allen opened one and stuck his head in, wondering where it washed the clothes at. Maybe if he climbed in...

Allen stuck himself in the metal box and looked around. It didn't seem to have any way to wash the clothes. But what did he know? Allen looked around a few more moments, but he didn't see anything. Maybe it was hidden...

The two didn't take the elevator after yesterday's...incident; but it seemed it was closed down anyways. The caution tape made it seem like someone had been...Kanda shook the thought, focusing on today. Today, he and Allen would get the younger some clothes; possibly sneak intothe school after hours and possibly wind up facing the perils of Solen. Personally, the raven wasn't all that fond of the scedule, but beggars can't be choosers.

Kanda didn't have to glance back to make sure Allen was keeping up; he might have been leading the other, but Allen ended up reaching the laundryroom first. Though when Kanda was inside of the room...Allen was no where to be..."Allen get out of the wash or you'll drown."

Allen stuck his head out of the big metal box and smiled at Kanda. "Kanda, I'm trying to find how it washes clothes. There's nothing in here except holes." Allen gasped. "Do those holes let the water in? How do you get the soap in? Where does the water come from? How do you dry them after they've washed?" Allen smiled agian and stuck his head back in, observing the holes. Maybe the soap came throw the holes too...

"Kanda, how will I drown?" Allen asked.

"Yes, you pour it, the holes, the dryer, and you'll find out if you get back inside of it." Kanda pulled Allen away from the washing machine and stuck Allen's clothes in. This multiple question thing sure did get easier with practice. Though this barrage was a bit smaller than the ones that he was used to; hopefully Allen would get how this worked after watching him do it...it would get him out of doing it himself. What normal person liked doing laundry?

Allen was pulled out of the washing machine, but that didn't deter him. Instead, he leaned over and watched as Kanda placed his clothes in the washing machine, added soap, then turned the dial to the "wash" setting. Allen heard the water pouring in through the holes, and he frowned. Wow, Kanda was right. He was going to drown if he stayed in there.

"Mommy, he's nakey!" Allen heard a little voice say. He inspected himself quickly to find out that he wasn't naked, and breathed a sigh of relief. Allen turned around and looked at the little girl that spoke. Smiling and squating down to her size, Allen began to talk back.

"Hi. What's your name?" The little girl smiled back.

"I'm Samantha. What's your name mister?"

"I'm Allen. You see, my clothes got dirty so I had to put them in the washer and that's why I only have this T-shirt on." Allen explained, nodding at the little girl's "oh really" look.

"How did your clothes get dirty?" Samantha asked quietly. Allen smiled and began to explain.

"Well, I was in the kitchen with Kanda here," Allen pointed at Kanda. "and he squirted me with water. So I threw pancake batter at him, and then fell, pouring the pancake batter on me." Allen nodded, and the little girl looked stunned.

"Mommy says it's not nice to throw things." The little girl said, and Allen looked thoughtful. It wasn't nice, was it? He turned to Kanda and smiled slightly.

"Sorry Kanda." Allen said. The little girl smiled, happy that she had helped.

"Little kids giving you guilt trips Allen?" Kanda raised an eyebrow at the kid, wodnering where her mother was. Parents shouldn't let their kids wander around like this, they could get lost or stolen or wind up on the news for something stupid. "It's fine Allen, it's clean, we're clean, you have nothing to apologize for," He smiled, sighing at the apologetic look on Allen's face. "Besides, I had fun." Maybe he just needed some reassurance.

Allen frowned. What was a guilt trip? Allen wasn't feeling guilty, he just thought that it wasn't nice that he...oh. Blushing a little, Allen smiled up at Kanda. "I had fun too Kanda." He said, then turned back to the little girl. "Samantha? Where's your mommy?" Allen said. A very pregnant woman came up and touched Samantha's head and Allen smiled up at her, only to be glared at.

"Come Samantha, we're going." The lady said, dragging the little girl off. The girl looked back and waved, and Allen smiled and waved back before frowning. Well now, that wasn't very nice, was it? Feeling a little cold, Allen went up to Kanda and curled into his side.

"Kanda, it wasn't nice to drag her off like that, was it?" Allen said, turning to look at Kanda with a small frown.

"Mothers will be...mothers." Kanda spoke a bit more curt than he meant to. His mother had left him with his father who left him with his grandfather...lets not get into Kanda Yuu's family history..."Besides, little girls shouldn'r run off like that." Kanda looked back at Allen, almost curious as to why he was curled into his side. either way, he wasn't complaining, he even welcomed the contact, wrapping an arm around Allen's waist. "Your clothes will be done soon, you must be freezing."

Okay! I have to say something.

Dear Ms. Kanda-is-all-I-want,

No, this story is not going to have a sad ending. But I'm afraid that it's going to get worse before it gets better. Much, much worse. Because, you see, the story you are reading is written by two very sadistic writers, who like to make the characters suffer as much as humanly possible before finally hitching them together. If that is going to make you not want to read this story, then stop now. Because the next chapter is very sadistic. I'm glad you like the story, but it makes me (and Kitty) sad to see that you would stop reading just because of a sad ending.

However, you have nothing to fear. It won't be a sad ending. Bittersweet perhaps, as I like sad endings and will rebel with ever fiber of my being, and Kitty won't let me write a sad one, but not sad. So...read on. Unless you don't like the fact that it's going to get worse before it get's better. In that case, then don't bother.

Your humble writers,

Kitty-chan (Neko-Kyoutan) and Kiyoko-kun.

Okay, with that said, I have to say something. Though this story might not have a sad ending, it is going to get worse. Much, much worse. Then, and only then will it start to get better. That's probably why this story is going to be so long. Because it has to get worse, they have to find the sholengofe, they have to defeate Solen. That must happen before I let them get together. If you guys don't like that, then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to change the way this story is meant to be written just to please you.

*gets off soapbox* That is all.

Kitty-chan (Neko-Kyoutan)

Kiyoko-kun.