This chapter was created during a lot of packing boxes, moving to the next two towns over, getting fired and being offered a job the same hour I got fired. I'm also starting college soon, so you all get a new update before I can't make any promises.

Onto the story~

Disclaimer: I do not own Ao No Exorcist or -Man.

Chapter 16

Kanda and the Musician got back to the dorm as Mephesto finished investigating the room Yuri had lived in. The room, after Yuri had left, had been cleaned and restored to the way it had looked before Yuri had lived there. The demon believed that the young exorcist girl had taken care of the room herself, since a thin layer of dust had settled on the floor and had not been disturbed for a long time.

Mephesto turned his attention to the dorm's facilities, mainly the kitchen and wash room. The wash room had been recently cleaned as well, this time by the Musician. Mephesto could tell by the air the room had, one that was a mix of both light and shadows. The feeling was a little subtle and hard to pick up if you weren't looking for it. Despite the feeling, the wash room was fine and he couldn't find a flaw with it.

Mephesto was still obligated to check the kitchen and see how the chef demon Ukobach was doing. It was here that the two occupants of the dorm came home to the clown being served by the chef and having a talk with him about the different meals he had to prepare. Mephesto listened with surprise and horror at how much food the little demon had to make despite how much he liked it.

"Sir Pheles," Kanda stated as he walked into the kitchen with the Musician behind him, "I don't appreciate you coming into our home without permission."

The demon clown sat up and grinned at the specialist,"Well, technically I didn't have to ask permission to be here. You do live in a dorm on school campus where I am principal. Dorms are always visited without warning. Keeps the students from doing anything they shouldn't."

Kanda growled slightly,"We aren't students, so I'm sure you can make an exception."

The demon nodded before becoming serious, "I do have to express my concern with how much money is being spent on meals for your charge. You can't possibly have enough funds to pay for his needs. So, the big question is where all this money is coming from."

"Well, I couldn't tell ya." Kanda stated with a smirk, "Moyashi brings home the cash for his own meals, while I do the shopping. I've never seen him in action, but I've heard stories."

"Oh, I love a good story~! Let's hear it," cheered Mephesto as he crossed his legs and leaned back a little. The Dark Matter specialist nodded and began telling a story set in the late 1900's. A story about a young Romanian count who was tricked by a group of vagabonds to losing all of his belongings and the clothes off of his back, until a young rabbit and a white-haired youth found him. The young musician cheated and skillful won back the count's belongings and even gave the vagabonds a taste of their own medicine by taking all of their things. The musician, however, gave them back and bid them fair well. The vagabonds, impressed with the musician's skills, gave him the cards they had played with.

"...And the two groups went on their way until the next time they would meet."

"Did they ever meet again," asked the clown. The specialist frowned and nodded.

"The musician ran into one of the vagabonds again, but that time he almost lost his life."

The Musician strolled into the room, hearing everything. The story gave him mixed emotions: sadness for the loss of his good friends, nostalgia from the world he lost, and pain from the feeling of Tyki Mikk letting a Tease eat a hole in his heart. He sat down right next to Kanda and nudged him harshly.

"Meanwhile, a certain jerk was in Japan, trying to get himself killed," grumbled the Musician with a sour look on his face.

"I almost succeeded, until a little moyashi had to save my life," the Japanese man chuckled at the fond memories that popped up, "That wasn't even the first time you saved my life."

"Really," questioned Mephesto, pleased with the way the conversation was going, "Sounds like you got into a lot of trouble~!"

"Almost too much," agreed the Musician, "You almost died the first mission we had together. We've come a long way though."

"Yeah, we have." Kanda thoughts, however, took a different turn. The weird feelings he had for the fluffy, white-haired boy and the mystery behind the woman he couldn't remember frustrated him. Taking it out on the moyashi seemed to help, yet hurting him seemed to make the feelings worse. He ended up making fun of him, teasing a reaction out of the emotional little sprout. It was only after he found Alma and pledged his alliance to the Musician that he began to understand how he felt. The joy at seeing the moyashi again, the pain of losing him, and feeling of helplessness that hid under a smoking, drinking angry facade. He realized how much he loved the white-haired hybrid and how much the love had changed over the years the moyashi had been away from him.

Now, when religion had become a major part of the Order, he had chosen to act on the feelings he had for the moyashi.

Kanda became aware of the moyashi pressing against him to watch Mephesto explain a story he had about a man he made a bet with. When the clown had switched from sitting at the table to his magical chair, Kanda had no idea. What he did know was that the moyashi's small, lean frame was pressed against his and he could feel the warmth radiating from him.

"Oh goodness, would you look at the time~! I have important business to attend to. I'll see you both later," the demon cheered, him and his chair disappearing in a puff of pink smoke. The moyashi turned his back to the other man and stretched his sore muscles, jumping slightly as he felt a hand trail up his back. Turning his head, the Musician watched the specialist trail his hand back down to his side where his arm wrapped around the hybrid's chest while his other arm snaked around his waist. The acute fear he had felt before was gone and replaced by a slight nervousness. Kanda pulled the moyashi against him, cuddling him from behind, as a sigh of content left him. The Musician relaxed into the embraced and slowly shut his eyes. Kanda was so sweet and caring to him, it was like the hate between the two of them never existed.

"Hey, Kanda," the Musician stated and continued after he heard a grunt from the man, "Do you remember when we first met? You seemed to hate me so much back then."

A rough laugh left Kanda before he replied, "Yeah. I couldn't believe a rookie like you could save my life. Especially one so cute and little."

"Cute," puzzled the Musician, "You thought I was cute?"

Kanda shrugged, smile slipping from his face, "I was so confused and angry back then, I couldn't tell how I felt about you. You were pretty cute though."

The Musician turned in his grip, heart fluttering in his chest as he leaned up and kissed the other man on the lips softly. Kanda's eyes widened slightly before letting them slip shut, letting the moyashi decide what to do. The Second Exoricst was pleased when the hybrid wrapped his arms around his neck and began to kiss him harder. The Musician forgot his hesitance and felt a pleasant warmth fill him. He began to wonder if Kanda always felt this type of warmth when they were with each other or if it was different. A gasp left him as he felt the warmth in him turn hotter as he felt Kanda's tongue rub against his. The white-haired man broke the kiss, taking in Kanda's appearance. The Musician took in the other man's flushed face and his disheveled appearance and decided he did.

He feels the exact same thing for me that I do for him.

"Kanda," the hybrid whispered, "I love you."

The Second Exorcist smiled, "I love you too."