Nightmare

Demons were chasing him. He ran and ran but was soon surrounded again. The level threes were cackling and suddenly Alma was there in all of his demon glory. Kanda looked up in horror at the purple-skinned, winged figure and shouted,

"Alma? Alma stop this!"

"You killed me! You've killed so many. But why do you never get to die?" Kanda froze at the words and then someone grabbed his long hair and yanked as Kanda yelped.

"We're going to kill you slowly Kanda. We're going to enjoy this" Kanda didn't want to open his eyes. He knew that voice. And sure enough, Allen stood with golden eyes glowing.

"Poor Lotus. A monster trying to play at being a man." That was a voice that he had never heard before. Cricking his head from where he was being held by Alma and 14th, he spotted long black hair and piercing green eyes.

"Harry?" No, the figure was too tall, too feminine.

"Poor poor Lotus. You'll find us eventually. Or they will hunt you down" she laughed as demon Alma stabbed his tail through his chest.

Kanda woke up with a shout, shooting upright his breathing heavy. Well that was a new nightmare. He looked over at the time and collapsed back into bed. What was that about? Hopefully it wasn't a vision; they only needed one prophet in the family. Why did the woman call him Lotus? Kanda rubbed his eyes; all this worrying wouldn't get him anywhere. It was too late to try and get back to sleep so he slowly sat back up. And jolted in surprise as his hair hit his back. Reaching up, he froze as his fingers ran through long locks. Jumping out of bed he rushed into the bathroom and, turning on the light, noticed that, not only was his hair longer, it was neat - his fringe back into the straight line that it used to be years ago, the back of his hair reaching the end of his torso with two shorter strands reaching past his shoulders. Was that because of the nightmare? He remembered that Allen had grown his hair after cutting it - but that was because of regret. Was his magic so invested in the dream that it regrew his hair? It didn't matter now. He could always ask Moyashi to cut it again if he wanted to. With that in mind, he jumped in the shower, easily slipping back into the routine of taking care of long hair.

He slowly dressed in his training gear, casting a drying charm on his hair. His hair. He'd had it short for so long that he no longer owned any ribbons. He'd have to go without until he could buy some more.

Hearing pottering in the kitchen, he realised that Severus must be awake. Slipping on his shoes, Kanda stepped into the living room to head out for his run.

"You're up ear...ly" Severus paused at the sight of him as he emerged from his bedroom. Instead of the usual plain shirt, black trousers, robe and short hair, Kanda was dressed in a tight sleeveless top and soft joggers. And his hair trailed past his shoulders all the way down his back.

"Um hi" Kanda greeted awkwardly, unsure of how to take the man's stare. Thankfully his voice seemed to break the professor out of whatever trance he was in and he stepped around the table towards Kanda.

"What happened?" he asked. Kanda shrugged,

"I had a nightmare and it was like this when I woke up. Magic is weird" he finished dumbly, wishing he had a stronger explanation.

"Magic is weird. It looks good" and Kanda froze as Severus ran a hand absentmindedly through the black strands, before returning to his coffee. What was that about?

"You off for your run?" Severus asked without turning.

"Ah yes, I intend to. Hopefully the others join me and don't use this as an excuse to get lazy"

Almost as if in response, a pair of blue butterflies fluttered into the room and spoke with Lenalee's voice,

"We're meeting at the usual place and time. Don't worry, I know you won't let us get lazy" and the patronus disappeared.

"Did you want a hair tie?" Snape asked and Kanda sighed in relief,

"Thanks"

On his way back from his bedroom, elastic in hand, Severus looked over at where the butterflies had been just minutes before,

"When did they learn to do that?"

Kanda looked over and shrugged as he manhandled his hair into the elastic,

"Tim figured it out and the rest of us followed suit" Once he had everything in place, he flicked his own patronus and gave the Raven a return message to tell them he was on his way, not noticing Severus's shocked expression as he left the quarters.