AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hey guys! Look! It hasn't been a year since my last update this time. It's only been...almost eight months. Geeze, I need to stop doing this to you guys, seriously. You have no idea how much beating myself up I've done over this story. I've been wanting to work on it so much, and just haven't been able to. It's been a confusing time in life. But I have to say cosplaying Lavi brought out my muse for him, and this is somehow what I've ended up working on? Is anybody even still reading this story?

I've been thinking about rewriting a few of the earlier chapters, but I don't know. Either way, this chapter has actual plot development in it! Who woulda thought? But there's no fluff. I'm sorry. :c I do miss making Lavi and Kanda cuddle though. We'll get to that point eventually. I hope. Also, Lenalee makes her first appearance. Even though lately I don't care for her character, I can't see her not being a part of their lives, even AU. So yeah... LET'S GET ON WITH THE CHAPTER. IDK. IT'S 2 AM AND I HAVEN'T SLEPT YET. D8

DISCLAIMER: I wish I was awesome enough to own D. Gray Man. :c

"Lavi?" A tiny voice snapped me out of the trance I had fallen into as I paced the halls.

I turned to see who it was, eye widening in surprise when a small Chinese girl came into view. Before me stood Lenalee Lee. She was one of our friends, but it still surprised me that she had already found out. Maybe she had been talking to Allen. Those two always had a thing for each other, though neither would openly admit it…

"Hey, Lena-chan," I tried with every fiber of my being to be my "normal" self, to put on the mask I was so good at wearing. It hurt my cheeks to try and fake a smile. There was nothing inside of me that felt like smiling anyway. The hand on my shoulder seemed to understand my pain.

I gave her a quick once over. The rims of her amethyst eyes were red, an obvious sign that she had been crying. It hardly surprised me. Lenalee had a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve. "W-what happened to Yuu?" Her voice came out so soft that I almost didn't hear her question.

I didn't know how to answer it either. What had happened to Yuu? The details were still a mystery, and all I knew was it was nothing good. I bit on my lower lip, eye averting away from Lenalee and to the hideous watercolor painting on the wall. A ragged breath escaped my chest as my mind tried to put together the pieces. All I could think of was finding him by the dumpster, the bruises and scrapes, his body so thin and shaking against mine, the ties binding his wrists… So I answered the only way I knew how. "I dunno, Lena-chan…"

It sounded pathetic to my own ears, and I found that I couldn't look at her. But the hand perched on my shoulder didn't move. "Lavi…"

"What do I do, Lenalee?" My mouth seemed to be finding words that my brain wasn't catching. "I'm not used to seeing him like this, y'know? So broken and just…He's not even Yuu right now! And I dunno how to fix it. I can't make it go away for him, and I really wanna. But I just…" My throat tightened, and there was a stinging sensation at the back of my eye. I sank down, back pressed against the wall. My knees supported my head as my brain searched for answers it simply didn't have. "I dunno what happened…or even what's happening or what's gonna happen…I just…"

My words caught in my throat, and whatever had been pricking at the back of my eye was now freely flowing down my cheek. I hated crying, hated the disgusting useless feeling it gave me. But it seemed to be the only thing I could do. Before I could stop myself, I felt my head being nestled into a chest, and fingers started running through my hair. The occasional soft sniffle told me that Lenalee was crying too. So we sat there, clinging to each other. We didn't know what else to do.

LKLKLK

The sound of feet shuffling drew close to us. Wiping my eye furiously, I glanced up, praying that any evidence of crying would disappear quickly. Staring down at me with large, brown eyes was the nurse from that morning. There was a clipboard in her hand and the look on her face told me that anything she had to say probably wasn't good.

"H-how's Yuu?" Lenalee asked, her voice shaking.

"W-well… He's asleep again, but that's to be expected. The medication for pain is pretty strong. A-as you know, he went to surgery today." Lenalee's eyes widened while the nurse spoke. She seemed to understand this and continued in a slightly more reassuring tone, "It was just to reset the bones in his leg. They had healed wrong during his…" Her voice cut off as though she was unsure of how to continue. "Disappearance?"

The frown that spread across her lips showed that she was still unsure of the right wording. But nonetheless, she continued speaking, "He's on some various IV's. T-the poor boy was severely malnourished…" She trailed off again, her brown eyes skimming across the clipboard. She read few lines before she spoke. "I really can't tell you much more. I'm so, so sorry…B-but the doctor has to tell you anything else…I-I can only tell anymore to direct family members, but you can go see your friend now…"

We hardly gave her any time to add anything else. The two of us made our way towards Kanda's room, Lenalee following my lead. The door was cracked open slightly and peeking inside, I could see Tiedoll and Marie. Tiedoll was perched in my chair, right at the edge of the bed, while Marie stood watch from a more secluded corner of the room. I didn't have to hear anything. From the look on Kanda's caregiver's face, I knew they knew more than I did. The feeling of despair hung over the room like a cloud.

I walked towards the bed, noticing the newly added cast to Yuu's leg. A small gasp escaped Lenalee who was seeing him for the first time since he disappeared. The hushed sounds of crying followed a few moments later, and Tiedoll tried his best to comfort the small girl. By this point, I had sat on the edge of the bed, fingers idly pushing Kanda's hair back.

"So…what happened?" My mouth had finally gathered the courage to ask what my brain so desperately needed to know. And the moment the words spilled from my lips, I knew I had asked a life-changing question. There was a split second when the already present silence in the room intensified. I pulled my glance away from Yuu for a second to look around the room. Tiedoll's composure was slowly shattering.

"L-Lavi…" The older man tried to say, "Y-Yuu was…" It was too much for the man to handle. He broke down into sobs, and Marie had to finish speaking for him.

"He was raped…"

I literally felt my heart shatter…

ENDING NOTES: Now that I'm getting back on track with the plot, I might be able to actually update more frequently. That is if people are still reading this...