Exception

By: Aviantei

27. "As Natural as Possible"

Lenalee experienced the rest of the day in a sort of haze built from happiness. It took a lot more willpower than she had liked to not brag to Ari about the recent string of events, but that was just how things went sometimes. Lenalee settled for not even engaging in her usual banter with the redheaded girl and talking only when necessary. Ari frowned most of the time, and Lenalee suspected that the girl wasn't too pleased.

Well who cares about that anymore?!

Komui needed to stay after school for the Science Club meeting, and Lenalee escaped to the bus before he could insist on her staying behind. She wished she had her own car, given that she had earned her license last spring, but Komui was still paranoid about that particular situation. Plus he preferred to be her ride to school, and sometimes it was just easier to go along with Komui than agree.

Normally, Lenalee wouldn't have had much trouble waiting on her brother, but today was a bit different.

Now that she had thought about it—like, really thought about it—she knew this situation wasn't normal. Everyone had been acting suspicious, and Lenalee didn't want to believe it, but she didn't think Ari was the type to lie just to get the better of Lenalee. There had to be some truth in it; Allen had gone on a date with Ari, and (someone, please gag her!) they had more than likely kissed.

So why was Allen turning around and asking Lenalee on a date not even a week afterwards?

Simple: this situation had Lavi written all over it.

Lenalee's bus stop wasn't too far from the school, and she was home within fifteen minutes. Part of her worried that she'd find Komui's car in the driveway—it wouldn't have been the first time he'd had a panic attack over his sister—but there was no one there. Lenalee retrieved her house key and went inside, not even checking the mail and heading straight for her room.

Most of the decorations in the house had been picked out by their parents, but they didn't exactly go together anymore. Everything had been moved over to their new home years ago, and Komui had haphazardly set things up the best he could. New pieces of furniture had come, gone, come and some gone again, but a lot was the same as Lenalee's childhood home, save for when Komui's crazed experiments started taking over the place.

That's why Lenalee spent most of her time in her room when Komui wasn't home. It was one of the few rooms to drastically change over the years—as Lenalee grew from child to young adult. Komui had spared no expense on letting her rebuild the room to her whims, and thus Lenalee's room was a space that felt completely like hers, and not just a reflection of a house she no longer lived in. There were still stuffed animals strewn about, a corner was dedicated to her schoolwork and a computer way more expensive than she needed, and everything was in shades of green, making the room feel like a garden of some sorts.

Dropping her backpack by the door and settling into her desk chair, Lenalee unlocked her cellphone and started to dial Lavi's number. Hopefully he would be out of earshot of his sister, but Lenalee couldn't really say she minded either way. It was Lavi who would have to deal with the problem, and while he was her friend, he was really doing it this time.

"Hey there, Lenalady!"Lavi chirped, music in the background dying out as he presumably fumbled with the volume controls. Well, he was still in a pretty chipper mood, so he had stopped being suspicious—too bad Lenalee had been on to him since he started asking questions about love triangles. "What do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice today?"

Lenalee let herself giggle. Yes, Lavi was ridiculous, but he was still fun, and enough to take her worries away. "I just wanted to check on you," she said. No, that was not a lie. Just because she wasn't getting right to the punch didn't mean her concerns were false—she knew how to manipulate people, but this wasn't really the time! "You doing okay? Calmed down any?"

She could hear Lavi hum a little bit, like he was on the verge of words but not quite sure how to say them. "I'm doin' better I guess," he offered, though Lenalee could tell he was putting more thought into his words than usual. Never a good sign with Lavi. "I don't think I've really figured anything out yet, but I'm getting by. Nothing crazy, either."

"That's good." Lenalee knew this sort of thing could be tough, but Lavi could get through it. She would be his support, because he was always there for her. "Though I don't know about anything crazy," she added, making sure there was a lilt in her voice. She may not have been able to see Lavi directly, but she could imagine well enough. "Seems like you've been up to an awful lot without me."

"Aw, come on, Lenalady, don't be that way," Lavi cooed, trying to sound reassuring. "I haven't been doing anything at all, just the usual—classes, bugging Yu-pon, going out to eat since I'm too lazy to cook…"

"Oh, really?" Lenalee went to take down her pigtails, the phone nestled between her ear and shoulder. "Is that why Allen is suddenly aware that girls like him and is actively taking them out on dates without telling anyone else? Because that sounds like something he would do only with prompting to me."

Silence from Lavi. If anything, Lenalee swore he was trying to turn his music back up.

"Did you really think you could leave me out of this, Colonel?"

"Sorry, Commodore," Lavi immediately responded. Lenalee smiled, setting her hair ties on the desk and combing her hair out with her fingers. He seemed apologetic enough. "Brit didn't want to cause a scene, so we're taking a more subtle approach this time. He wants to give both you and Ari a chance."

"Well, I don't know about subtle…"Lenalee mused. Taking more than one girl out on a date in a short span of time was pushing Allen's character a bit, but she'd make an exception for this request, especially if it was what Allen wanted. "Still, I'm not entirely happy here about being second. What's up with that?"

Lavi didn't sound as distressed as Lenalee had expected. Calls of favoritism were dancing around in the less then pleasant parts of her brain, but she could be a little edgy after Ari had bragged, right? "It's not like you or Ari managed to meet the Brit first—we've all known him roughly the same amount of time," Lavi said, and Lenalee knew it was true. "Ari just happened to get there first, and we worked around that."

Lenalee frowned. Ari was taking the initiative. That meant, while Allen hadn't actively sought the situation, he had accepted. Lenalee was at the disadvantage here, no doubt about that. She had to give Saturday her A Game then—A+ if she could manage it.

"Fair enough," she admitted, though she was starting to feel a bit bitter. This whole thing wasn't pity, right? No, Allen definitely wasn't like that, just like he definitely wasn't about two-timing anyone. He was approaching this honestly, so she should, too. "I'm not gonna ask too many questions, 'cause getting answers might make this a bit unfair. But you are keeping this balanced, right Lavi?"

"Of course! Ivy-chan would kill me if I didn't." The words were a mix of reassuring and not-so-assuring all at once. Only Lavi… "We want this to be as natural as possible." Lavi let out an exaggerated gasp. "The drama! The suspense! Who will win the Brit's heart? It's a one-of-a-kind Valentine's Day event!"

And Lenalee laughed, because maybe a little drama every now and then wasn't so bad.

Johnny tended to have a pretty busy schedule between both the science and chess clubs, and the approaching Robot Fight Club only made things more complicated. Johnny still had a lot of work left on his own project, but Thursdays were his sanctuary. Not only did he not have clubs in the afternoon, Johnny let himself relax during his free period instead of retreating to the science labs. This particular Thursday, however, he had been trusted with a mission, and it was one he had a limited amount of time to complete.

Johnny wandered a little bit up the science hallway and peaked his head into Reever's classroom, which according to Ari was holding a study hall at the moment, and that was where Allen was. Sure enough, the shock of white hair was near the back of the classroom, next to the red poof that was Lavi. How Ari had learned everyone's schedules by then was beyond Johnny, but he had realized a long time ago there were things that he didn't necessarily need to know about his friend.

Everything was a lot safer that way, that was for sure.

Reever noticed Johnny standing at the doorway and waved him into the classroom. Maybe it was just a side-effect of being close to the science department, but Reever tended to give Johnny a bit of slack. Johnny smiled in appreciation and headed back to where Allen and Lavi were sitting, turning around an empty desk to face them.

"Hey, guys." The others returned the greeting as Johnny settled in. Allen looked like he was trying to work his way through a chapter of his biology textbook, notebook at the ready, while Lavi had absolutely nothing on his desk save for his elbows. "Sorry for interrupting. I figured I'd hang out since I'm free right now."

"No problem," Allen said, putting a stray worksheet in his book to mark the place and closing it. "I wasn't getting anywhere, anyways." A gray-colored glare was sent in the redhead's direction, but Lavi only grinned. "You're usually really busy, Johnny. I'm surprised you stopped by."

Johnny chuckled, playing with the ends of his jacket sleeve. "Well, I needed a break," he said. This was turning out to be a bit more complicated than he had anticipated—Ari hadn't mentioned her brother would be here. Then again, who said that had to be a disadvantage to the situation? It wasn't quite like chess, but Johnny still had to be able to use the positions on the board in his favor. "Actually, I wanted to ask you some questions about Ari."

It wasn't really an atmospheric shift—metaphorically or actually, for either case—but Johnny did get to experience Allen's face heat up. The young scientist felt a bit bad about prying like this, but Lavi was more of the chill/I'm-secretly-terrified-of-my-younger-sister older brother type, so he wouldn't play too much of the overprotective card. This could still be a peaceful meeting.

"What about her?" Allen was suddenly very conscious of the fact that there were other people in their study hall, even though none of them were looking at him. The others were either working (gasp!) or (the majority) were taking advantage of Reever's lackadaisical attitude and chatting with their own friends. That didn't make Allen any less paranoid, though. If someone overheard and that information made its way to either Ari or Lenalee…

"How you feel about her," Johnny went straight for the punch. It might not have been particularly strong, but it did manage to catch Allen off guard, and that was enough. "She's been really excited about getting closer to you, and as her friend—actually, as a friend of both of you—I wanna know what's going on."

Well, that and Ari had kind of asked him to, but that was beside the point.

Allen stammered a bit, reigning his volume to below standard speaking levels. "I-I don't know, there's somethings I need to consider before…"

"Aw, come on, Brit," Lavi interrupted, leaning closer to his friend's side. "You can't have that half-hearted of an answer, can you?" Sure, he knew Allen was trying to play things fair, and he would let that answer slide when Ivy was around. But, not only would it look weird to Johnny if Lavi didn't press on, the redhead wanted to know for himself. Things were just more fun this way.

Rabbits could be surprisingly curious creatures.

Ah, you've gotta be kidding me, Allen internally griped. Lavi was looking on with a genuine curiosity, and Johnny seemed oddly determined to reach an answer. Allen tried to figure out a way to avoid the awkwardness of this situation, but he didn't quite have the speed of thought at the moment to pull that off.

"You guys are jerks," Allen grumbled. Lavi only grinned.

"That's what friends are for, Brit!" The redhead dropped an arm around his smaller friend's shoulder, pulling him even closer before he caught himself. Hopefully Allen couldn't hear the sound of Lavi's heart. Maybe if he covered it up with more words… "Now, spill the beans. How do you feel about my baby sister? Oh, but talking as your friend and not her brother, you dig?"

Because that made all the difference. At least Lavi thought so. Allen was more inclined to believe that just made this situation even more awkward. Johnny was just glad to have found a surprising ally in this mess. Ari had said Lavi was pushing Allen into trying to resolve his feelings, but that didn't mean a little help couldn't help out.

"Alright." Allen sighed, not even bothering to shrug out of Lavi's one armed hug. The redhead retreated on his own, but not after giving one last squeeze to his friend's shoulder. "I…I'm really not sure, okay?" Lavi opened his mouth—probably to be overdramatic—and Johnny frowned, but Allen raised a gloved hand. "It's just… Things feel like they've been going way too fast lately, and it's been messing with my head. But I will say I don't…dislike her." Or Lenalee for that matter. He was starting to understand the seemingly consistent urge to murder Lavi that Ivy and Kanda seemed to share.

Lavi tried to process the words, wondering how this would factor into Saturday's outing. Johnny processed, too, trying to figure out if Ari would be satisfied with that. No, definitely not, and he wasn't satisfied, either. That wasn't nearly enough information! "Is there anything you do like about her, then?" Johnny asked, drawing a flinch out of Allen.

The white-haired boy glanced to Lavi. There was no help in that expression, only a…timid curiosity?

What the bollocks has gotten into everyone? Lavi was partially reserved, Johnny was forward, and Ari and Lenalee were suddenly in love with him or something? This was a bloody mess.

And how.

"She's nice, okay?" Allen said. Ah, that was lame. Two deadpan stares told him so, not that he needed the reminder. "She's bubbly and fun and has a certain energy to her." Kind of like Lavi, but a girl. No, that was just a sexist approach to things. He could do better than that. "I guess, she just makes me think about things differently, and I kind of like that. Plus she's…" How many times was he gonna blush in just one class period. And could Lavi and Johnny possibly lean in any closer?!

Yes, yes they could. But Allen would rather avoid that situation.

"She's cute, okay?" Allen blurted. That made his friends back up, both smiling. Lavi's was a bit more subdued than usual, but Allen was just glad we could breathe. He inhaled, letting out his air in more of a huff than he had meant to. "Now, are you two have any more questions, or can I actually use my study hall to study?"

"Aw, who wants to do that, Brit?"

"People who actually have to work for their grades?"

Johnny eased back into his chair, reaching for his own notebook. There were still some unanswered questions he had, but that was good enough. Ari would probably be pleased with that much information. She could certainly use it to make things easier for the future.

Besides, he had a robot to design anyway.

"So, everything's going well."

Kanda looked up from his worksheet at Ivy's words. Free period had rolled around, and there was homework to get out of the way, not to mention quality time to be had. It was really a wonder that Lavi avoided them, but Kanda guessed that there were some cases where the Rabbit actually valued his life.

"Allen managed to ask Lenalee out with no problems," Ivy continued, twisting the eraser of her mechanical pencil. "We're gonna be spending Saturday at the mall. Lavi and I will do recon together. I think we should be done before things get too late."

Kanda didn't particularly care about all the details, but he guessed he felt better knowing than not knowing, even if knowing irritated him beyond belief. Ivy and Lavi running around all day? Kanda liked to think we was above petty jealousy, but thinking didn't exactly make those things true.

"Will this plan go as 'well' as last time?" he asked. Yes, he was still bitter about the entire evening at Millennial, but who could blame him? Okay, maybe that waitress and the table that Ivy had miraculously broken, but one of those was an inanimate object, so it didn't quite have the same impact.

He expected Ivy to look a bit nervous, or a little apprehensive. He could tell this whole situation stressed her out at times—she wasn't all the way there at times, spacing out in the middle of conversations or pausing midsentence while working on her homework. But now she just looked determined, her sheer tenacity shining through, and Kanda guessed that wasn't so bad, either.

"I'll kill him if it doesn't," Ivy resolved, and Kanda guessed he didn't have to worry. Not about her.

He did frown, though, the realization hitting him. "So if you're doing that tomorrow, you won't have time to get together?" They had only been dating for a few months, but homework on Saturdays had become a habit. It was their time, and Kanda was pretty sure that Ivy had made it clear that her personal life was not to be interfered with.

Right?

"Ah, dammit," Ivy muttered. "I didn't even realize, I just wanted to get this out of the way." She looked to Kanda, apologies shining in her eyes. "Sorry, I should've—"

"It's okay," Kanda tried. Sure, it partially pissed him off, but not because of her. "Don't worry about it, I know—"

"How about I come over tonight?"

The words brought a silence. Kanda wasn't sure how to answer that. He couldn't just turn it down, but there were certain things to consider.

"I'm serious," Ivy said. That determination was back, shining a bit brighter than before. She looked a lot more confident than she looked. "We can work on things then. And if we don't finish things up, we can go ahead and get together Sunday." She took a breath, feeling the shake in her windpipe. "How does that sound?"

Kanda smiled, reaching for Ivy's hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. "Sounds fucking perfect."

I considered calling this chapter "A Little Drama," but that didn't seem to work out too well... So we get a Lavi quote instead!

Thanks to digibladelover1 for your favorite and follow! As always, I'm glad to see that someone's enjoying the story. If you have any thoughts, feel free to let me know! I love feedback, suggestions, etc...

Anyways, sorry for the late update, guys. The holidays ate my brain, and then I bought Fire Emblem: Awakening... Let's just say it's not a good idea to let Paige have a strategy based game with a relationship system and so much customization/replay value that it starts to get ridiculous. In any event, we are working on getting back to schedule here, and today should be the day all my fanfiction updates are in place again!

I think out of this whole chapter, the Johnny segment was my favorite. I love that little guy. I didn't realize how much I was scaling his age until I finally bought book 24 and read the discussion corner...whoops! Oh well, canon ages really only affect the original cast in this, so I guess it doesn't matter much. (shrug)

But it's December already, huh? Sheesh, time flies. That also means that updates for this story will be winding down for a while... Oh well, let's just enjoy what we've got goin' on now, shall we?

Next time will be the beginning of the LenaleexAllen date! And this time, the update will be on Saturday! :P Please look forward to it!

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