Exception
By: Aviantei
18. Temporary Insanity
Lenalee Lee was not stupid. She had also inherited her brother's smarts without any of the crazy, which helped out a lot in both the academic and popularity departments. Given enough time and study, she could perform well on any test, though she couldn't constantly pull out perfect scores like Lavi or constant A's like Kanda. She did, however, have a decent enough grade point average that she wasn't too worried about getting into college when the time came in the next few years.
Even with her academic skill, her talents mostly rested elsewhere. One couldn't be popular by being smart, and while Lenalee hadn't exactly tried to be popular, it was hard for her not to be. She was fashionable, social, and fell into the right level of attractiveness to fit the bill. While she would never trade her group of friends just for the sake of being more popular, she wouldn't just let her status slip away from her either.
That being said, having to socialize with so many people made her good at reading them. She could tell how people really felt from just a few words—if they were giving false flattery to get on her good side or hiding a crush they had on someone or if they were forcing themselves to be happy just because they thought they should be. It was a useful skill, either in that it helped her avoid trouble or understand someone a little bit better.
The skill was even more useful whenever she was dealing with her friends, mostly because she had more time to study their habits. Lenalee knew that Allen always twitched his damaged arm whenever someone tried to ask him about it because he felt uncomfortable, that Kanda made slightly smaller outbursts whenever he was just pretending to be angry at someone else, that her brother scrunched up his nose when a cup of coffee didn't reach his standards, and that Ivy pushed her hair out her face when she was stalling for time to come up with a way to word responses she knew her conversation partner didn't like.
And Lenalee knew that Lavi tended to play with the ends of his scarf whenever he was hiding something, which he had just happened to be doing the entire time he had been talking to her in the library.
From there it hadn't been difficult to figure out just what exactly was going on. Lavi had been more excited than usual at lunch, bouncing his leg up and down underneath the table until Kanda had threatened to cut it off. Ivy seemed to be lost in thought, picking at her lunch twice as much as she was actually eating it. They had come out of the lunch line together, meaning that they had probably talked. The fact that Lavi had bought an extra lunch seemed to confirm it. Said extra lunch had made it into Allen's stomach, the British teenager barely talking and his neck constantly red. He didn't seem sick, Ari was eating with her friends, and Kanda was otherwise unaffected, which left only one conclusion.
Evidence and conclusion number one: Lavi had been hiding something in the library, which was more than likely the fact that Lenalee did know the person in question stuck in the middle of the love triangle. While it was possible that it was someone outside of their group, Lavi wouldn't have been as adamant about keeping it a secret, even if he had promised.
Evidence and conclusion number two: The person in the middle of the triangle was male. Kanda was out considering that he was dating Ivy. Lavi wasn't the type of person to be confused by his feelings, let alone try to choose between two girls. The pursuit of a serious relationship just wasn't something he did. The person in the middle of the love triangle was then Allen.
It wasn't rocket science to figure out where everything else was going from there. Lenalee could say for certain she was one of said people. She could say with slightly less certainty that Ari was the other. Lenalee had selfishly hoped that the younger girl would have found someone else while off in France, but that didn't seem to be the case. Even the way Ari had spoken seemed to indicate that she still had a crush on Allen, not to mention come back to the States to study because she had missed him.
And given Lavi's tendencies for sticking his nose in places where it didn't belong, especially when it came to the relationships of others, it was obvious he was going to try and meddle. All that advice that he had managed to get Lenalee to cough up in the library was going to be used against her.
So much for the "don't let either of the girls know" rule. Lavi's plan could technically be over before it even started if Lenalee went to say anything. She could confront Lavi about it, make him stop right now. It was the only logical thing to do.
Except Lenalee couldn't see what good that would do anyone. Lavi would still go through with it, unless she was stern enough. While that was something Lenalee could pull off, she didn't know where that would get her. Allen was a sweetheart, that was why he liked him, but he couldn't act on his interest in her at all. Further, he would be far too polite to ever choose between Lenalee or Ari knowing that that they were both interested.
That boy was too nice for his own good. Maybe that's why he was so dreamy. Not that his looks should be discounted, either. That would just be madness.
Lavi pushing Allen on was the only way they could ever get him to choose, unless Lenalee jumped the initiative and asked him out first. Being under pressure would only make it rushed, though, and Lenalee wouldn't stand for that. She had been planning this moment for years and it had to be perfect.
Okay, so letting Lavi manage everything was definitely not the best way for things to be perfect, but at least Ivy was helping him. That alone had to at least work in a way that would make this decision less insane!
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Of course this decision wasn't exactly final. Lenalee had only been giving the matter thought outside of class time while traveling the halls. She had to focus on her classes to be a good student after all! Just because she was popular didn't mean she had to let her grades slip. Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely true and she tuned out her classes a few times, scribbling doodles on the side of her notebook, but what else are you supposed to do when the teacher's voice just drones on and on and makes you want to fall asleep? She should at least get props for being one of the few students to stay awake through that lecture.
Besides, they hadn't been learning anything interesting anyway.
At least now it was the end of the school day, with only one period left. While other students had to slug through their last class, Lenalee had not fallen for such a trap. She had signed up for home ec with full knowledge that it would cover her last period, and give her an excuse to eat whatever she wanted before heading home. It was the rule that all food had to be eaten or taken home at the end of the day.
However, she had not escaped entirely unscathed. While the period was often a sanctuary, things had changed during the new semester. Lenalee had walked into the class, only to find out that Ari Bookman had signed up for it as well. Further, her former partner had needed to take a different class, so she was gone, too. In the end, the two teenagers had found themselves paired up for the rest of the school year.
That Jerry sure was a clever bastard. He had sworn up and down the partner selection was random draw, but seeing as he hadn't done it in front of the class, Lenalee seriously doubted that.
It wasn't like she hated Ari. They could get along just fine if the situation called for it, and had even bonded about being the only girls in an all guy's friend group at first. Liking Allen was the only problem, which they had realized about the same time when they were slipping Valentines into the British boy's locker.
Lenalee didn't do catfights. They were just tacky in a stereotypical school girl television drama kind of way and took way too much effort to come out of with your pride and makeup intact. Apparently, neither did Ari, although the reasons weren't the same. The two girls were left in front of the locker, trying to give the other the chance to go first until Allen showed up for his things, leaving neither to succeed.
Things hadn't changed much.
Ari smiled as she walked into the room, and Lenalee smiled back. "Hello, Ari," the Chinese girl said first, gaining the upper hand. "How has your day been?" The words were almost too sweet coming out of her mouth, but not enough to be obvious. Anyone else looking on probably would have thought they got along exceptionally well. It was an art that took time to master, really.
"I've been fine," Ari answered with the same tone in her voice, mixed in with a bit of Lavi's cheerfulness. The younger teenager was somehow able to make the words sound more natural, but that undertone was still there. "And you, Lenalee?"
"I've had a good day, as well," she answered. "It's nice to see that Lavi is still able to come to school. He's not giving you too much trouble at home, is he?" Directing the conversation to a new topic, Lenalee was able to stay in control. She was smiling, but she really wished she could smirk right now.
Ari didn't miss a beat. "Oh, of course not. It's no problem to take care of him, really. After all, I am his sister. It's only natural to not mind taking care of him, especially when it's so easy. Although, I hope your own brother isn't bothering you too much."
Lenalee considered the situation. Komui had become caught up in some new project or another—she seriously hoped he wasn't trying to build another robot again; that had been a disaster—so he hadn't been as eccentric as usual. Or rather, he wasn't being as eccentric around her.
She opened her mouth to answer, only to have the bell ring over her. Ari's smile seemed to widen just a bit as Jerry called attention to the front of the class, eliminating Lenalee's chance to respond at all. Despite her best efforts, the other girl had ended up winning the last word.
Lenalee swore that even if Lavi was calling the shots, she wouldn't lose to Ari again.
Ivy had gone to her and Kanda's usual hang out room in record time, trying to get her homework out of the way as quickly as possible. Even though she had gotten Lavi to hold himself back, that didn't exactly make her feel any better about what they were going to do. Managing a project that involved assisting Allen's love life—of all people the rabbit could have chosen!—in the middle of a love triangle was going to be hard enough. Add in regulating the redhead and it almost seemed destined for disaster.
Planning needed to be done. There was no need for Allen to lose control over what was happening in his own life just because some friends wanted to help. Ivy just hoped that Allen would accept the help, because who knows just what Lavi would do then.
Ivy took a deep breath to steady herself. There was no need to work herself up this early in the game. She still hadn't even talked to the Brit, for goodness's sake! It probably would have been best to talk to him after school today, but she didn't want to interfere with any plan he may have already had. Ivy would just send him a text that night to see when he was free tomorrow and meet up with him then.
"What's wrong?" a gruff voice asked from the doorway. Ivy looked up to see Kanda walking into the room, shutting the door behind him. While his tone was usually softer when he was just talking to her, Kanda was still as blunt as always. Ivy probably should have wished that he would be a bit kinder since they were dating, but she knew that wasn't something she really wanted.
She had fallen for him just the way he was. There was no reason for him to change just because they had decided to be in a relationship together.
"Nothing, why do you ask?" Ivy said, shaking her head. A small ponytail bounced back and forth with the movement. It was getting long enough to justify cutting it, but she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted anymore. She had meant to ask Kanda how he would feel about her growing it out, but hadn't gotten the opportunity to ask.
"You're chewing your nails." Kanda sat down at the table, getting books out of his bag. Ivy pulled her hand away from her mouth, blushing at the fact. "You only do that whenever something's bothering you or you're thinking about something difficult. So what is it?"
For a moment, Ivy considered saying that the issue was one of the many homework assignments stacked up in front of her. Kanda probably didn't want to hear about anything about what Lavi was up to, so there was no point in telling him about the problem. Aside from the fact that that she didn't want to lie about it, it would be far too easy to see through anyway.
At the risk of sounding cocky, there wasn't any real way she would have trouble with the homework anyway. Working on it together with Kanda had just been an excuse to spend time with him from the very beginning.
"Three points," Ivy conceded, turning her chair to better face Kanda. The Japanese teen had started writing answers on one of his worksheets, but stopped at the sound of her voice. Ivy tried to think of a good way to break the news to him, then realized there was no good way to break news about Lavi Bookman to Kanda Yu unless the former was terribly injured. The blunt option would have to do. "I decided to help Lavi out with a little side project of his."
"You what?" Kanda said. It looked like the pencil in his hand was about to break he was holding onto it so hard. Sadly, it looked new enough that he had broken a different pencil earlier in the day. Equally sadly, this was quite the common occurrence. For the sake of Kanda's sanity and school supplies, Ivy decided to run damage control.
She put her hand on top of Kanda's. His muscles slackened ever so slightly. "Calm down, Yu-kun, I haven't even told you what we're doing. Hear me out," Ivy said. The look on his face told her he didn't particularly want to hear her out about Lavi's plans, but he was willing to do so anyway. "Lavi was going overboard, saying that he was going to try and help Allen-san out with his romance issues."
"Beansprout has romance issues," Kanda deadpanned. He looked about as convinced as he did at anything else that sourced from Lavi, which wasn't a whole lot. If you could be negative convinced, Kanda Yu would certainly be a master of it.
Ivy smiled, trying to lessen the tension. "Yes, I was surprised, too. I was certain that he and Lenalee had already been going out for several months—sorry, this isn't the point." She cut off both for her sake and Kanda's. If she started talking about who was dating who to her boyfriend, there would be some serious readjustment of priorities going on in the near future. "Apparently there's some sort of love triangle going on between Allen-san, Lenalee, and Ari-san, and Lavi wants to fix it."
Kanda looked like he had just smelled something disgusting. Alternatively, he appeared as if a bug had flown up his nose. Ivy didn't blame him; she had felt the same way when Lavi had approached her on the topic.
"The point is that I agreed to help him out in solving the problem," Ivy continued. "Although I can't say that if the situation is even a problem at all. If anything, everything seems under control and Lavi is only going to make things worse by sticking his nose into it. So I said I would help because—"
"I don't like it," Kanda said. As if she hadn't seen that reaction coming from the day she was born. As difficult as he was to manage at times, Kanda could really be predictable when it came to certain things, like arguing with Allen and his opinion on rabbits.
"I said to let me finish," Ivy chided, holding a finger in front of Kanda's face. "You keep this up and I'm taking away your points." He blinked at the sudden proximity of the digit, but kept his mouth shut. "All I'm going to be doing is monitoring Lavi so he doesn't run out of control. If I can keep things in check then I won't even have to go out and do anything at all. Everything will stay the way it is, and we can focus on us, alright?"
Kanda paused, the slight twitch of his brow letting Ivy know he was trying to think of a proper response. A direct objection to what paused, the slight twitch of his brow letting Ivy know he was trying to think of a proper response. A direct objection to she was planning, no doubt. "It's like you're fucking babysitting him," he said. Apparently he wasn't able to justify a way to only say no and have it hold water. "I know you mean well, but that doesn't mean you can just make the Rabbit do nothing at all. That's fucking impossible."
"So I'm not going to stop him. I think I've seen enough of what Lavi can do to understand that." Ivy shrugged. "I guess it's kind of like babysitting, but if that's what it takes to keep things steady, fine. Instead of stopping him entirely, I'm just eliminating the chance that something big will happen and screw everything up. I'm also doing it so he'll leave you out of it."
Ivy poked Kanda in the chest, which probably did more damage to her finger than him. It was obvious there were muscles under there, and Ivy wondered when exactly he had time to work out before realizing that it didn't matter right now.
"I—no, that's wrong. I just—We—You—I want—" Kanda stumbled over the beginnings of a few sentences, trying to find the right words. When he couldn't get a good start, he lowered his volume, muttering to himself. Ivy smiled, slipping her fingers into his while he was distracted.
"I know, Yu-kun," she said. "I get that this is something new and that you don't know how to say that you don't want me running around with Lavi all the time when we could be spending time together. I get that. So I promise that if you think this is taking up too much of my time then you can tell me, and I'll cut back on it." Ivy giggled a bit, even though it seemed out of place. "You can be as rude about it as you want, too. I really don't mind. If I spend too much time with Lavi who knows what will happen to my common sense."
Kanda sighed. "If you start calling me 'Yu-pon' I think that's where this relationship will have issues surviving," he said. Ivy only laughed again.
"I'll resist the urge."
Kanda leaned forward, putting his free hand on the back of Ivy's head. She blushed, but moved into the kiss. They stayed like that for a few moments. When they pulled back, Kanda could say he felt a lot better about the situation, even if it was a bad idea.
He was letting his girlfriend spend large amounts of time with Lavi. "Bad idea" didn't exactly cover it. "A terrible mistake" seemed better, or maybe "completely insane." Kanda preferred to keep things simple and just refer to the whole thing as "really fucking stupid."
Ivy was smiling at him.
Okay, so that part of this whole mess wasn't so bad.
"Can I ask something, though?" Ivy said. Her cheeks were still dusted with pink, but otherwise she seemed fine. Kanda nodded his consent. "To be honest, I really don't feel like I'm prepared to go through with this. I really don't know Ari-san that well, so I really can't be of much help in that division so… Would you mind telling me more about her?"
Kanda didn't know exactly what else he could say about Ari that Ivy didn't already know, but he figured he could give it a shot. Besides, talking about it could lead to some other topic, which could easily lead to spending time together. Kanda didn't know if he could handle other people for the rest of the day, though, so that was really just all the reason to invite Ivy over to his place for a while.
You couldn't say Kanda Yu wasn't a clever bastard. That just wouldn't be true.
Ivy looked at him expectantly. She was ready, it seemed, still leaning slightly forward on the table. She was also leaning over the papers she had spread out, reminding Kanda of his own folder of assignments in his bag. It suddenly dawned on him that they had been meeting up to do homework together, not to talk about whatever Lavi was planning and how it would affect their relationship.
Kanda sighed again. He tended to sigh a lot when he was thinking about the rabbit.
"I don't mind talking about this," Kanda said, and Ivy's smile was almost enough to make him change his mind from what he was going to say next. Practicality—otherwise known as Stick in the Mud Syndrome—kept him on course. "Let's just get out homework out of the way first. It's kind of a long story."
Lavi pulled a tissue out of the box stationed on the side of his desk, blew his nose, tossed the tissue into the near overflowing trashcan with its brethren, and got back to work. Miraculously, he had been able to find an empty notebook in the recesses of the house, and was now filling it up with ultra-brilliant brainstorming plots for whenever he and Ivy started to assist Allen into the wonderful world of dating.
He knew he shouldn't be getting his hopes up this much. There was every chance that Allen would turn down the offer, try to manage things on his own. Lavi could respect that. It took some serious courage to try and date two girls at once, except in Allen's case it was more of a politeness to discover how he felt about said girls before getting their hopes up. In some ways that took more courage than the first option, what with defying stereotypes and all. The Brit definitely earned some mad props for that.
Of course, there was also the option that the Brit would agree—and seriously, why wouldn't he?—and Lavi couldn't just go unprepared into that conversation! Sure, he was a brilliant improviser and could think of plans on the fly like a motherfucker, but preparation was always best. Already Lavi had made it halfway through his notebook in one afternoon, and it was filled with pure gold. Sure, some of the ideas weren't his best, but those could be filtered out and his true genius could shine through. It was perfect.
There was also the option that either Ivy and-slash-or Allen would look at his ideas and throw them all out, but Lavi chose not to acknowledge that option as a possibility.
There was a knock on his door, and Lavi spun his chair around to see Ari entering the room. She was carrying a bowl of soup on a tray, and Lavi's stomach audibly made it known that he was hungry. He blew his nose again, hoping it would return some of his sense of taste to him.
Ari didn't seem near as happy as her brother. While she crossed the room and put the soup on the desk, she was frowning at Lavi the entire time. At this rate, the rabbit wondered if it was even safe to touch the food he was being given or if its chef's sour attitude was enough to poison it. Tentatively, he took a spoonful.
It was wonderful.
"What's wrong, sister dear?" Lavi asked, trying to take the minimal amount of time to speak so he could resume eating. The soup was exactly what he had needed, even though in medical terms it only made it easier to breathe as opposed to any real cure for the cold, but he could deal with that. Breathing properly was always good.
"You should be resting," Ari said. "I know you don't actually have to do your homework, so you have no reason to be out of bed, Nii-san." It was moments like these that made Lavi think that Ari was somehow channeling their mother despite never meeting her.
Lavi blew on his spoon in an effort to avoid burning the inside of his mouth. It was impressive that Ari had managed to walk it down to his room without losing any of the heat. "Come on, Sis, I feel fine."
"If you feel so fine then I guess I don't have to cook you soup anymore, huh?"
"No please anything but that!" Lavi's dramatic tendencies ended up working against him. Not only did Ari have an excuse to continue to scold him, his grab for his soup bowl to try and prevent her from taking it away only ended in some of the broth splashing onto his arm and notebook. "Crap!" Ignoring his own injury, Lavi tried to scoop up his hard work and dry it out before any of his writing was rendered illegible.
Ari raised an eyebrow, trying to read what she could off the notebook being flailed throughout the air. While such a thing would be impossible for a mere mortal, the brain of a Bookman was far superior. Lavi would have been proud of his sister if the ability she possessed wasn't one that could unravel the plan before it started. He settled on a feeling of mortal terror instead.
"What are you even working on, anyway?" Ari asked. Lavi snapped the notebook shut, hearing the pages squelch together in the process. He winced, then pulled the book away from his sister's hands as she tried to grab it. "Mou, come on, Nii-san, lemme see!"
"Absolutely not!" Lavi retorted, standing up. Despite Ari's insistence that he rest, she was making exert plenty of energy on avoiding her. The notebook flapped helplessly through the air, and Lavi found himself on the receiving end of wrestling techniques that he was pretty sure were illegal in official league matches. Something about putting the other wrestler's life in danger.
"Come on, Nii-san, why not?" The siblings spun around, one of their free arms knocking over a pile of books Lavi had set up as reading material.
"Cause it's top secret!" Lavi had to resist the urge to add 'no girls allowed,' mostly because it was untrue and he had gotten over that phase years ago. Technically Ari was the only person at the moment not allowed to see, but he couldn't say it was because she was his little sister either. He had to maintain a reputation as a cool older brother after all.
"That's not fair!" Ari almost whined, jumping onto her older brother's back. The sudden weight combined with a comedic placed book caused Lavi to lose his balance, toppling over into a fall. At the last minute, he was able to tuck the notebook under his stomach, keeping it safe while he was still technically prone. "Hmph! Fine, keep your secret, Nii-san! Just go to bed after you eat, alright?!"
With that angrily delivered piece of caring advice, Ari stood up and exited the room.
There was the corner of more than one book digging into his side, the fall had dislodged a large ball of mucus out of his lungs, the secret was safe, cat firmly secure in bag, he had managed to resolve the situation before his soup had gotten cold, and there was a headache forming behind his left eye.
Brilliant.
Lavi sat up, popped some pills, ate his soup, and got back to work, passing out at his desk sometime later that night.
Man, I keep forgetting just how ridiculous things can get in Exception when you're not paying attention. And with that, he's the next proper installment!
A big thanks to , Lyssazura, MidoriHikari00, anime-fan-girl1751, 808wolfgirl, maso250, and matt55555 for reviewing, following, and favoriting this story in this long gap between updates! I hope you've been enjoying this story so far.
Actually rereading this chapter to edit it reminded me off all the shit's that this story is going to end up covering... I hope you're ready for it~
Also, a quick reminder to keep your eyes out for rewrites of the first 8 chapters of this story as I have deemed their writing to be shit. If you're interested, the first chapter has currently been redone and is hopefully worth it.
Next time, Ari makes a realization, Ivy talks to Allen, and Allen tries to make a decision. Please look forward to it!