Chapter 49
RecordingTheCrash & Livxwire

Disclaimer: Don't own; don't sue. Blah, blah, blah. You get the gist.

Summary: When evil does evil, the world continues to turn as expected. It's only when sheep start leading their own to the slaughter that it screeches to a complete halt. Faced with just what humans can do, it's hard not to feel betrayed. [Lavi x Lenalee, Kanda x Lenalee]

Note: Whew! Got this monster edited earlier than anticipated, which, I'm going to take a stab and say, is a good thing. We're still revving up to the plot a bit, so keep that in mind, yeah? Please let us know what you think, and, of course, enjoy.

Of Unhappy Introductions

It was the rumbling of his stomach that woke the redhead in the morning, prompting him to rub the sleep from his eye while lazily stretching his still waking muscles. Half asleep, a yawn escaping from his lips, the Bookman haphazardly threw on his bandana and a loose-fitting thermal shirt, forgetting his shoes as he waddled his barely coherent form towards the mess hall, his nose leading the way for his visual receptors were still not all that functional. The boy wasn't even sure how he managed to get food on his plate, let alone aware what he actually selected. It looked delicious, and smelled that way too, which was good enough for the professional nomad. Hell, the fact that it was hot was good enough for him.

Too distracted by the home cooked meal, Lavi plunked his butt down at the nearest open seat, shaking the entire table in front of him with his lack of coordination. The noise of the slamming tray echoed about the room, calling the entire area's attention to him in one of those awkward moments that the junior Bookman hated yet seemed to follow him wherever he went.

And so, the play began.

Chuckling nervously, closing his eye in a false sense of modesty, Lavi raised a hand to ruffle his already bed messed hair.

"Umm … hi," the seemingly cheerful redhead voiced, extending a hand to the person sitting to the right of him. "I'm Lavi."

Food wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities the next morning when saliva tasted like nothing short of ash in her mouth, but if she didn't make it down to the mess hall sooner rather than later, her brother would doubtlessly appear at her door with every inventively empty threat that had already made part of his repertoire in an attempt to persuade, then guilt, her into eating something. Normally, this routine of his was equal parts amusing and aggravating, but currently, she simply didn't have the energy to keep up. So she yanked herself out of the sanctity of her bed, out of the blissful grasp of sleep, and trudged through the morning minutia to get to Jerry before the nut she called family did, before the cook had anything remotely worrying to report.

Lenalee managed as much, also somehow miraculously feigning enough interest in her breakfast to keep any prying questions at bay, which meant she was free and clear to tuck herself into her favorite seat at the back table, from where she normally derived so much amusement and enjoyment watching the finders and exorcists interact, seeming, for the length of the meals, at least, so ordinary, it was laughable.

No one was really laughing then, though. The atmosphere permeating the mess hall could be described as not much better than somber. The tables were filled, but the attendees were all quiet and subdued, creating a vacuum, an illusion of emptiness, that became starkly filled by the tray of hot food that suddenly dropped down by her elbow, catching the girl completely off guard. She had half a mind to guess that Kanda was trying his clumsy hand at comfort again, as he was known to do when it came to her and no one was watching, which no one really was, bleary eyes looking up to the source of the noise without seeing from all corners of the large room, but the hair that greeted her searching gaze wasn't dark. Not even close.

In lieu of midnight, all Lee found was rust, accompanied by nervous laughter, and she wondered how strange it was she didn't notice the gaze that met hers the other night wasn't full. The young woman was immediately curious and itching to ask a million questions, but the new recruit seemed so entirely timid, she couldn't bring herself to embarrass him. Instead, slow but firm, with all the affection of a long-lost sibling, she squeezed his offered hand in both of her own, bouncing in place with the zeal of her handshake. She focused her eyes, dark, and saturated, and almost violet, on his face, but not his deformity, and smiled.

"My name's Lenalee. If you need anything at all, just lemme know, okay?"

She didn't let go of his hand until it became absolutely necessary to do so in the hopes of remaining appropriate.

"Welcome home."

It was only when Lavi felt the squeeze to his offered hand that the boy opened his eye, the false smile cemented in place as he continued to chuckle bashfully. Remain unassuming and unthreatening. Stay off to the sidelines, and don't call attention to yourself. Observe, and notate. That was his job as a Bookman. Those that surrounded him were not his friends, not his comrades, no matter the interactions that took place between them. It was an idea the redhead lived by, and it allowed the young man to master the fine, intricate details of social decorum, able to keep the delicate balance between inviting friendliness, where those conversed with felt comfortable enough to share privileged information, and an aloof mystique, that, in turn, kept those same beings at a safe distance due to an uneasy sense of warning that couldn't be explained. Complacent caution, that's what Lavi liked to call it, and it suited his goals well.

When Bookman Junior opened his eye to greet the unfortunate soul, unfortunate for him, mind, the redhead was expecting to run the course of the standard greeting ritual, a mindless exchange of pleasantries customary for new acquaintances. The game annoyed him, but the boy had the steps memorized, so much so that he could carry out the conversation in his sleep, which wasn't that far from his state of being at the present moment. However, as Lavi initiated step one, which was to make eye contact, everything the male knew was thrown out the window. Just like the day prior, as the redhead's gaze fell upon familiar, violet eyes, which were now right in front of him, upon the smooth, pale skin framed by dark pigtails, he found himself unable to breathe again, his heart jumping around sporadically in the cage of his chest and, instead of continuing with the next scripted line of dialog, the record keeper's jaw fell open, hanging lifelessly as he struggled to find the practiced words he had memorized countless years ago.

He looked like an idiot, which the redhead was, but this time, the display wasn't a façade; it was a genuine reaction.

"My name's Lenalee. If you need anything at all, just lemme know, okay?"

Then, she smiled, a warm glow lighting up her milk-colored cheeks, a captivating radiance that even the well-disciplined Bookman couldn't help but fall victim to.

"Welcome home."

... Home?

Lavi wasn't sure what threw him off more, his intense physical reaction to this girl or her use of the word home. To the nomad, home was where one's heart belonged; it wasn't an actual, physical location, but in her simple greeting, in their brief, still one-sided, exchange, the boy could, perhaps, start to see the allure of the concept.

Not used to being thrown off his game, it took the scribe a moment to catch back up and, just when he was going to make his move on this inviting and curiously enticing Lenalee, someone had to step in and ruin the moment.

"That's my spot."

Turning around, the Bookman found a tall, unfriendly male with a murderous, stone cold look chiseled onto his immovable features. It was obvious this man was dangerous and clearly had no sense of humor. Right off the bat, Lavi didn't like him, and that was ignoring the fact that this uninvited guest was ruining his prime opportunity to flirt with a cute girl. Still, a characterization was of no use if one could not maintain the façade in all situations, no matter how aggravating, so Lavi did his best to play along, despite his frustration.

"Hey … you …," the redhead drawled out slowly, doing his best to hide his bitterness, giving as slight an acknowledgement as possible to the unnamed male with a small, angled turn in the exorcist's general direction.

"Don't call me that," the long-haired youth snapped with a snarl, like a vicious dog growling at the end of his taut chain.

"He goes by Kanda," Lenelee offered up hastily.

Kanda, huh?

The redhead smirked to himself, the expression so concentrated, it bled through to the boy's external display. Trained as a Bookman to read between the lines, to find subtle cues and hidden information, Lavi had a pretty good idea of the man's first name due to the stranger's reaction and the girl's introduction, and the scribe was pretty damn sure his new guest didn't like being called by it.

"Sorry," Lavi offered up with a mocking apology, his fake smile big and bright. "I didn't see your name on it. It is Yuu, though, isn't it?"

Kanda's grip became white-knuckled on his food tray, his jaw clenching as he tried to bite back his anger at the insolent fool addressing him.

"Don't call me that."

Wanting to avoid bloodshed, Lenalee took the moment to shift as far to the left as she could along the bench seat at the table, creating just enough space to allow Kanda to slip between her and the Bookman, in her own way presenting a compromise. Kanda, understanding the girl's gesture and with his sole purpose in coming to the mess hall this morning being to offer his own, twisted form of support and comfort to Lenalee, decided to swallow his pride and accept the offering for her sake.

Until that bastard, Lavi, grinned and patted the empty seat in an encouraging, yet belittling, fashion.

Kanda froze mid step, his muscles tensing to the point of granite as he suppressed his urge to slit the redhead's throat. Dropping his tray on the table, the exorcist changed his plans and, instead, headed straight for the exit without so much as a word.

Lenalee, of course, chased after her upset friend, leaving Lavi alone and, now, without the pretty girl to flirt with.

"Oh, come on, Yuu!" the historian called after the pissed off Kanda as he stormed away, the redhead's eye candy close on the samurai's heels. "I didn't mean it. Learn to take a joke, buddy."

"Don't call me that!" echoed loudly about the mess hall as the angered exorcist made his exit.

She thought it a familiar thing, the warming presence and icy tone just above her shoulder, where Kanda was already losing his temper with the new recruit. Lavi somehow managed to stumble across the one word that was sure to set the samurai on edge in record time, it seemed, and the brunette idly wondered if he was baiting the incensed mess of irritation behind her on purpose. The idea wasn't a smart one. Her friend wasn't exactly known for his anger management skills.

"He goes by Kanda," Lenalee hastened to interject, halting the soon to be argument by scooting her way to the left side of the bench, in a pacifying sort of manner, to offer the two young men a compromise.

To her chagrin, the effort was rendered futile by Lavi petting the seat she vacated, and she felt more than saw Yuu's patience snap into bits and pieces against the linoleum floor, the fragile thing that it was.

For the love of —

Kanda's tray hit the tabletop just as the girl pitched up to her feet, much too familiar with this routine to waste any more time immobile in the hopes that Yuu would cool off and come back. He wouldn't. And he was already out the door when she found her voice to gently call out to him, tongue forming carefully over the syllables of his surname because all creation was in the balance and counting on her not to fumble and call him anything else. Of course, he didn't so much as slow at the gentle pleading, and Lenalee really didn't expect him to. She continued on right behind him, calling his name one more time, just a bit louder, as her much shorter strides were slowly forcing her to fall behind. The fact that he still didn't respond didn't surprise her, but it did annoy her.

"Kanda."

He maintained his silence, radiating murder in all directions, compelling everyone passing them by to avoid eye contact and generally pretend that there wasn't an enraged samurai stomping down the hall with a Lenalee trailing behind him, looking, with every step, more and more ready to yank on his hair. She didn't. But it was a near thing, really.

"Kanda."

Silence.

She forced herself to halt, soft eyes turning sharp against the back of his exorcist coat, her booted foot hitting the floor in a petulant stomp she wasn't entirely too proud of.

"Kanda, Yuu! If you do not stop walking away from me this instant, God be my witness, I will end you!"

The threat was mostly an empty one, but Lee didn't think herself above kicking the swordsman in the shins given the right set of circumstances, which this whole affair was starting to border. It seemed that he knew this, for he slowed, then stopped altogether, a wince so obvious in his stature that his shoulders straightened and tensed on autopilot. In response, the crease of her forehead smoothed almost immediately, and a smile found its way back to her full lips, as the young woman lazily trotted up to the frozen Kanda with every intention of making him wait out the length of the hallway that somehow sprung up between them in the samurai's attempts to flee. At his side, she slowed to a near crawl, catching his eyes before continuing onward, as if silently permitting him to start moving as well. The hint was taken, and her pace matched, and, really, there was nothing quite like walking though a throng of people with Yuu because the crowd parted with his mere presence.

What came next was tricky business because Lenalee couldn't scare the poor man by outwardly telling him she was alright and figured out long ago that he only ever sat at her table when he thought she wasn't, so the brunette turned to the neutral topic of work, knowing, before even opening her mouth, that their usual game of charades was about to begin.

"Are you leaving on assignment today?"

An affirmative grunt was her only reply.

She cutely scrunched her nose; he continued glaring forward. Nothing ever changed with this man, and that was a bit comforting.

"Soon?"

Another grunt.

"Then you have to eat before you go."

An annoyed grunt.

"And take warm clothes with. S'been way too cold recently."

A pissed off grunt.

"Kanda."

A grunt of acquiescence.

It was really a miracle that the two of them had managed to understand each other to date. It helped that Lenalee could talk enough for two and Yuu's base vocabulary consisted of six phrases and an infinity of grunts, but the charm of their conversations was, nonetheless, lost on everyone but the girl.

Kanda had very little patience to begin with, and although he had the most willingness to endure most human stupidities for Lenalee, this unknown and untrustworthy redhead had worn the near emotionless samurai thin, causing his resolve to shatter as he stormed out the mess hall. Anger and annoyance burned bright in the exorcist's mind, causing him not to notice the little tag along until he was halfway through the next hallway.

"Kanda," she called sweetly after the frothing beast, who, of course, ignored her as he continued to part the sea of innocent and terrified Black Order members caught in the crossfire.

"Kanda," Lenalee spoke again, this time, the name commanding a bit more attention for the need of a response, which the hot-headed male blatantly ignored, and she knew he did so on purpose, even if the gesture was nothing personally directed at her.

"Kanda, Yuu! If you do not stop walking away from me this instant, God be my witness, I will end you!"

And as if the hand of God himself reached down to command his exorcist, the dog's feet ceased their marching, an invisible force halting the irritated man from putting one foot in front of the other. Held by unseen chains, Kanda knew he wouldn't be able to make any more forward progress, not until his bonds were released and he was given permission to continue on. So, as if forced to stand for an inquisition, the samurai stood with his head held high and his shoulders pulled back, awaiting the intense line of questioning he knew was forthcoming.

"Are you leaving on assignment today?"

Of course he was. With Kanda's special talents, with there being a shortage of exorcists, with him being a leashed dog for the Black Order, he was always out on assignment, most of his time spent out in the field rather than in his own private room. Not caring for human contact, the samurai wasn't going to complain, although he did have concerns for Lenalee and her wellbeing while so commonly away. A strong woman she was, but still fragile and delicate at her core. As one of the few, if not the only one, he took into consideration, it aggravated Yuu to know he was unable to deflect the pain the Black Order so often caused his comrade while he wasn't around.

"Soon?"

Of course it was soon. In fact, he was already running late, a sacrifice he was willing to make in order to check on the girl before heading out on his journey. Joining her in the mess hall might have wasted an hour of his time, but he would be able to make it up on the road, able to push his body to its limits to compensate for the lost sixty minutes.

"Then you have to eat before you go."

That was his original plan, but that mouthy, one-eyed redhead ruined his intentions, not that Kanda actually enjoyed eating, the action more of a necessity than pleasure, but still, a necessity nonetheless, an activity that could not forever be avoided no matter how hard he tried.

"And take warm clothes with. S'been way too cold recently."

No shit, really? He hated it when she became motherly; although, deep down, the concern warmed his icicle of a heart. Accepting his role as a tool and a weapon, born and raised for one, sole purpose, although the exorcist would never admit it, even to himself, he found joy in her care, so much that he had to force back a sincere smile.

"Kanda."

"He followed us."

Lavi watched as his two cast members walked off stage, leaving him alone to finish out the act by himself. It wasn't exactly the close to the scene the scribe was expecting, which, to the one who notated things for a living, left his curiosity peaked and craving some form of completion. Like a doomed cat, the redhead attempted to ignore the itch to follow the pair; however, as disciplined as he was, the junior Bookman had no willpower to do what he knew was right instead of what he knew was satisfying and self-gratifying. So, after five minutes of anxious fidgeting, after mindlessly pushing food around his plate while his eye lingered on the adjacent hallway, the newly adorned exorcist gave up resisting, slinking his way over to the exit, doing his best to remain unobserved in the shadows as he went to tail the quarreling love birds.

Much like a skilled ninja, the redhead danced along the outer reaches of the walkway, unobtrusive to his surroundings, a fly on the wall, the silent observer he was trained to be. And unnoticed he was by everyone except that damned Yuu. Despite the Bookman's vigilant care, despite all the precautions he took to remain unseen, there was just no getting around the samurai, even with the distraction of sweet candy dangling in front of him.

Lavi shook his head to himself.

There was no way this guy was human, not with how much Lenalee was fawning over the bastard and him still giving no response. It almost made the redhead angry, jealous the girl's efforts were wasted on someone so undeserving. If she wanted someone to lavish with attention, he'd take it, and appreciate it too.

Wait, what?

Lavi was a bit surprised with himself that, even if just for a split second, he honestly felt those emotions. Now the boy was shaking his head for another reason: to refresh and clear his mind. Having experienced two unusual hiccups, both in the mess hall and just now, the junior Bookman had to replay what happened last night, thinking there was probably something the old geezer tried to warn him about that the young man managed to overlook. Honestly, it wasn't the first time the idiot missed some critical piece of information, and, sadly, it wouldn't be the last either.

"He followed us."

And the jig was up.

Damn it.

Still, Lavi knew when he was beat, so the redhead gave a dashing smile and held his hands up as a gesture of good faith, a signal to show the paranoid Kanda that the record keeper had nothing to hide. At least physically anyway.

"Hey now," the youth playfully countered with mock offense. "Those are strong accusations there, Yuu. I can't help it if you just coincidentally happened to be walking in the same direction I chose to meander in. This hallway's big enough for all of us, ain't it, Yuu?"

"Don't call me that."

Oh, this guy was too much fun.

Her forehead was ready to make the intimate acquaintance of the nearest desk the moment she heard Kanda's given name tumble past the redhead's lips; she was actively looking for said desk by the time Lavi repeated the taboo. To the brunette's unending aggravation, however, there wasn't anything remotely horizontal and stiff in sight, which was a shame, because Yuu's voice amplified to dangerous levels in the quickly emptying hallway, and she was left wondering if a hiding spot was what she should have been looking for. It was a moot point, though. There was nowhere to hide, nor was there anything to bang her head against, without taking a short walk off the high platform they were standing on. What was more concerning was that the railing just wasn't tall enough to assure the girl that Kanda wouldn't just throw the new recruit over it in his rage if she didn't intervene, and it was really a long way down to the first floor. A long, long way down.

Which, really, Lavi fully deserved to travel because he was opening his mouth again to, likely, definitely, repeat what he shouldn't for the sake of his health, and Lenalee interjected at the last possible moment with a heel to his foot. The tiny act of violence was only enough to derail the redhead briefly. Unfortunately, it did nothing for lowering the girl's blood pressure, nor did it really do much for the vein throbbing painfully against her temple.

It wasn't as though she was on Yuu's side, though. Really, she wasn't. Or maybe she was. But not because he was her friend. It was mostly because he was Kanda that she felt it necessary to protect his frail nerves. He was kind of inept and plenty unaccustomed, a lot angry and a little confused, and, maybe, just a tiny bit slow on the uptake, but that didn't give anyone permission to purposefully peeve him. Lavi should have known better. Because Lavi, not as shy as he appeared at first glance Lavi, had obviously figured out that Yuu was more vulnerable than he'd ever care to admit already.

"The cheeky so-and-so," came muffled under Lee's breath.

She unceremoniously threaded her arm with the redhead's the moment he quit bouncing around on one foot as though she actually applied enough pressure to hurt him, which she didn't, but kind of wished she had, and pulled him a couple of paces away from Kanda. The brunette's movements were almost smooth as she did this, but not quite. Not enough to suggest that the new recruit was going to get out of this interaction unscathed if he persisted the way he was going.

It was almost like flipping a light switch, though, the uplift to her mood when he did nothing to resist her moving him away from Yuu, to whom she waved over her shoulder with an encouraging smile. He had better appreciate her giving him a chance to escape, especially considering the nerve-grating company he was now able to get away from. Thankfully, she didn't find the new recruit half as objectionable as Kanda seemed to. Quite on the contrary, he made for a refreshing sight: a young man still able to smile, or fake smile, so brightly in the exorcist line of duty. No one had seen such friendliness in quite some time, and Lenalee was just a little starved for it.

She let go of her captive audience about ten feet away from Yuu, who, she noted, started moving now that his unhappy mistress, anger, wasn't rooting his feet to the floor. Lee was a bit relieved that he managed not to burst a blood vessel while so doing, and that was a good enough sign for her to turn her full attention to Lavi.

"How about I give you the grand tour, hm?"

She was greeted with a Cheshire grin for her kindness.

"You can show me 'round all you want, babe."

The brunette heard Kanda's measured footsteps slow and pushed Lavi a bit farther away from the swordsman, hoping to start talking before the mischievous imp at her side got the chance to say anything else. As luck had it, the girl stumbled across her own door before the redhead's mind caught up with his mouth, and she was all too thankful to point out Room 313 to him as her own in the case he was ever in need of assistance.

Kanda stopped completely.

Damn.

She wasn't even sure what she did wrong that time around.

The idiot of a redhead was having too much fun to realize that his life was actually in danger. This being his first day at a new place, a rare occurrence, Bookman Junior forgot all about his lack of knowledge concerning the background of his new theater troupe and the actors', in some cases, deadly personalities. There was not a doubt in anyone's mind, especially not Kanda's, that the samurai would hurl the annoyance off the balcony to the painful floor resting several stories below, which was why Lenalee decided to step in, literally, right on Lavi's bare foot, and defuse the situation as best she could. The Bookman let out a surprised yelp, too wrapped up in the manipulation of the marionette strings of Yuu's patience to see the uncalled for attack.

"Hey! What the hell d'ya do that for?!" the boy cursed, glaring viciously at his curvy attacker while he bounced around on his still good foot, massaging the red heel mark of his injury in a vain attempt to soothe the pain as he danced about looking like an imbecile.

Lenalee voiced her frustration under the cover of a hushed whisper, which the new recruit clearly heard, his ears honed to catch even the faintest of conversations from across enormous chambers. Lavi was coming to learn just how adorable this female exorcist was when she became angry, how her nose scrunched up and how her eyebrows furrowed together to compose a life threatening gaze that didn't match her daintily petite body structure. Her tone and harsh words implied the girl meant business, but the redheaded wonder had his doubts as to if this delicate flower could actually break him. Not that the idiot got his chance to tempt fate. At least not yet anyway.

The Bookman's forced variety act was soon brought to a close. A sweet scent permeated his senses as a slender arm wrapped around his own, pulling the Order's newest addition off his one good foot and away from the volatile Kanda.

"How about I give you the grand tour, hm?"

A tour, huh?

Just the two of them? A pretty girl offering to show him around? Alone? How could the young male say no to that?

Lavi grinned at the proposal, an impish mischievousness hidden behind the expression as he began walking away from the marionette he was previously attempting to direct, the boy's attention no longer captivated by the curious puppet. The redhead had a better toy to play with now.

"You can show me 'round all you want, babe," the junior Bookman tossed back in response, purposefully making his words loud enough to hear for the escaping samurai. He was further satisfied in his victory as he heard the irritated man's steps slow. Unable to help himself, getting wrapped up in the twisted game, heedless that he was violating the first rule of being a Bookman, Lavi was about to open his mouth to pour salt in the exorcist's open wound, but the little lady beat him to the punch, taking it upon herself to point out her dorm, complete with room number.

Kanda's footsteps stopped.

Lenalee winced.

Lavi chuckled, accidentally giving away more than he intended.

An awkward silence filled the air, the tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife, which it, in fact, was, the uncomfortable moment brought to an end by the sharp sound of metal being drawn from a sheath.

"If I ever find out you went there, I will kill you."

The Bookman turned to face the threat, his gaze greeted by the razor-sharp edge of Mugen, the tip of the samurai's sword less than an inch away from his nose.

Lavi's confident chuckle turned to one of nervous unease, the boy closing his eye as he held up his hands again, doing his best to mold himself into what would appear like a defensive position to the angered swordsman. Apparently, Bookman Junior had pushed too far, biting off more than he could chew, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence; it was more that Kanda wasn't a common opponent.

"Take it easy there, Yuu," the redhead attempted to defuse, the samurai's first name accidentally slipping past his lips, the gesture already ingrained as an automatic response. "I haven't even done anything yet."

What happened next only took a fraction of a second, but it played out as if it took a lifetime.

A soft, guttural growl saturated the already dense tension, turning the atmosphere into a thick soup, the sound much like the last warning snarl of a vicious dog as it prepared to bite. There was a quick shuffle as Kanda's feet found their position in an attack stance, the samurai drawing back his weapon and taking the hilt in both hands, leveling the blade in order to deliver his strike. As the angered exorcist went to initiate the maneuver, the light glinting off the deadly edge of Mugen as it traveled toward its intended target, Lavi finally realized how serious the situation actually was.

With scant milliseconds in which to formulate a reaction, the Bookman was left with no other choice but to rely on his ingrained combat training in order to avoid the attack. Whatever cover he was trying to keep, whatever mild mannered façade he was attempting to display, was about to be thrown out the window as, he too, subtly shifted his stance to meet his opponent head on, his mind already having planned out his third counter and strike in response to the oncoming assault.

"Lavi!"

"Kanda!"

The two names echoed about the marbled hallway at a deafening volume, the scolding tone so boiling hot that it immediately halted the actions of both adrenaline fueled boys.

The redhead stood in place, exercising enough control to have not moved the slightest, even with the blade of Mugen resting next to his cheek, the weapon having been diverted at the last second. In what seemed like a delayed reaction, the stoic Bookman put on a show of shaking in his boots, seeming to tremble in fear, although his true reaction, the heat of the enraged beast he kept bottled inside, bled through the staged expression of his eyes despite one of them being covered.

Stubborn and prideful, Lavi had to catch himself before he let out a sigh of relief at the Old Panda's timing, although the boy knew he was going to get it once they were alone.

Jumping to employ his cover, the apprentice dashed to cower behind his mentor, having to crouch significantly to become even partially hidden by his short, elderly senior. Giving his best performance of genuine terror, Lavi pointed at the murderous Kanda over Bookman's shoulder, making sure his voice cracked slightly to help in the impact of his delivery.

"He was gunna kill me!"

"And I'm sure you would have deserved it," Bookman snapped calmly, giving a slight, disapproving nod as he spoke, confirming for his junior that a stern beating was for sure coming his way.

Bookman Junior didn't make it to Komui's office on time, and the fact seemed to tickle the director pink because he gave Bookman the slyest of happiest grins before he could school his expression into one of careful apathy. The effort to do so came way too late, but he tried. And failed. Miserably. His amusement was only further rewarded when the old man tsked in disapproval directed more at his apprentice's lack of presence than Komui's conduct. And that was probably a good thing because it was taking all of the director's concentration to remain silent, which left him with no focus to spare on also maintaining an un-maintainable façade of seriousness.

They were in the library, Komui's office of choice, and he was keenly aware of the stacks upon stacks of paperwork tipping over towards his perch on the edge of the desk, papery whispers and promises of hours of work that were going to drive him into the ground if Reever didn't get to him first, but he wasn't listening. Because Lavi was nowhere to be seen, and the clock kept ticking, twenty minutes past the meeting time, and Bookman was so displeased, the sentiment was almost palpable. For a moment, the scientist seriously considered naming himself a sadist. He was deriving much too much amusement from the knowledge that in the not too far off future, someone was going to get punished for being a teenager.

"Oh, to be young again," he mused aloud, eyes carefully withdrawn from the scribe's quickly tightening shoulders.

It was painfully clear to Komui's untrained, wandering gaze that Bookman had put extra effort into thinking of his apprentice as nothing short of a grown man and hadn't reaped any results from the exercise; the sigh that hunched his back attested to as much. And it wasn't that the director was done teasing the old man just yet, but he let the matter drop from fear of worsening Lavi's inevitable chastisement.

"How about I give you the grand tour in the meantime, hm?"

Like sister, like brother.

It turned out, however and unfortunately, that a tour just wasn't meant to diffuse the situation. For anyone. Lenalee didn't get Lavi far enough away from Kanda to avert tragedy, and Komui didn't get Bookman far enough away from the three teenagers to save Lavi a beating. But everyone survived in the end, and wasn't that something to be happy about? The director seemed to think so, quietly sidling up to his sister and sliding a happy arm around her shoulders, which pulled her protectively to his side. The brunette didn't protest, though it was obvious by the odd look she shot him that she had half a mind to. She must have been too thankful for the interruption to Kanda's and Lavi's scuffle to punch him for the liberty, so Komui took full advantage, like he was apt to do, puffing up his chest proudly and even placing a balled fist on the hip that wasn't currently pressed into the girl's waist.

Kanda, meanwhile, sneered and turned away before the researcher even opened his mouth, obviously content with the prospect of leaving Lenalee to her brother because that man was an overprotective monster when it came to his little sister.

The monster in question awkwardly laughed at the samurai's turned back, glasses glinting in the ray of light that shouldn't have, by all accounts and logic, been reflecting so blindingly off the lenses. Lenalee knew he was about to do something bad, and it didn't take long for her suspicion to be confirmed.

"Kan-nda!" he called a little too innocently, a little too happily. "Good luck on your assignment, young man! Call when you get the-ere! Call when you're do-one! Don't make me wor-ry!"

And just like that, Lee was looking for a desk again, while the director, having filled his quota of misconduct for the time being, turned back to Lavi and Bookman and, ready to introduce his little sister like the proud non-parent that he was, got himself a sharp elbow in the gut because, apparently, enough was enough. His arm was getting a bit too comfortable around the young woman's shoulders, clearly, and her patience, tested from the start of the day, finally gave. She knew her brother to be as brittle around the edges as Kanda, but there came a time in each and every one of their interactions together that this piece of knowledge just couldn't overshadow his obnoxiousness.

The girl stepped up toward Bookman, favoring him with the same greeting she gave his apprentice, and was so quickly taken with the stoic manner of the older scribe, she didn't notice the evil glare her brother exchanged with the younger one.

To be continued.