Notes: Okay gang, told ya this one would be up much quicker than the last one! ^^ I wanna thank Lathya and wolfpup023 for reviewing. I know it's overdue, but I made a few hits at the point system in here, and hopefully I'll get some more chances in the next chapter. This chapter I have worked on practically everywhere that I could in order to create and refine it. And I do mean every where: at home, on the bus, in study hall, my Spanish class, my grandma's, the library, and even McDonald's. (I was drinking a mocha and typing on a laptop, how weird is that?) Yes, not even one of the largest fast food franchises in America could keep me from continuing to work on this chapter. So, this is the Christmas chapter (man, I am SO out of tune with the seasons…) and I hope you all enjoy. I tried making it excellent and set it through five separate grueling edits (If you saw the marks over me first draft…) For the record, Kanda's views on music aren't my own, but they share similarities. Also I'm the one who has a ceramic frog in the garden that holds my house key, so that's where that came from. By the way, this is the longest chapter of Exception yet, so I hope you enjoy and review! And not expect the rest of the chapters to be this long… Enough with my ranting! On with it!
Disclaimer: Hoshino Katsura (must… get… DGM… volume 14…)
Warnings: Ivy's mouth, the horrors of Lavi's house, Lavi's stupidity, Kanda's mouth, Kanda's inhospitality, Kanda's hatred for parties and popular music, the implications of Lavi singing and dancing to "his song," Lavi's stupid plans, and slight OOCness.
14. "All I want is…"
Ivy slowly woke up from a rare full night's sleep, actually feeling refreshed for once. Weekends and vacation days really were the best times to catch some Z's, and having those kept her from only being able to properly function with the excessive use of coffee. She had the suspicion that Kanda was annoyed because he started of his mornings with the stuff. Ivy's eyes trailed over to the alarm clock that had mostly been rendered useless over the past few days, except to view the time, which she was doing now. Ah, the crack of noon, definitely the best time to wake up, no doubt.
Ivy let out a yawn and stretched her arms above her head before actually leaving the bed to get dressed. Figuring that she'd be spending the majority of the day lounging around, as she had spent the past parts of her vacation, the Japanese girl simply slipped into a pair of sweatpants and along sleeved t-shirt. Screw fashion, no matter what Lenalee thought, comfort was definately the priority.
While Ivy went to leave the apartment's bedroom and head for the kitchen, she looked back to the clock, this time to check the date. And that made her stop cold.
"Shit!" she whispered.
December 25th. Was that really the date? Ivy couldn't believe it. Surely break had only been going on for just a few days, and not nearly an entire week. But when she thought it through, the numbers added up.
"Shit!" she repeated, this time louder.
Dismissing her quest for breakfast, Ivy began to shift through the mess that had accumulated on the floor, all the while trying to remember where she had put her cell phone. Now let me make it clear that Ivy is mostly a neat person. However, when she has multiple idle hours at her disposal, the books, notebooks, papers, CDs, and other miscellaneous items that are normally organized spill out of their respective places and afterwards take up residence on the ground.
After about a minute of digging through said mess, Ivy found her phone exactly where she had left it a week ago: plugged into the wall, charging, and turned off so she wouldn't have to deal with the rest of the world. She unceremoniously tore it away from the wall, sat down on her bed, flipped the device open, and shoved down the power button.
Ivy knew that she needed to talk to Kanda soon. It had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn't talked to him, fuck the rest of the world, for a week. It was simply the fact that it was Christmas and she wanted to see him.
The phone beeped to life and Ivy was about to press one for her speed dial when it hit her.
"Fuck." The cuss word dropped out of her mouth with ease.
Again, Ivy reminded herself that it was Christmas. And she hadn't gotten him a damn thing.
In fact, she hadn't gotten a thing for any of her friends. Not that the rest really mattered at the moment. Then again, Kanda probably didn't even want anything, let alone expect it. But for some reason, it still felt like she should.
At that moment, the phone rang, causing Ivy to jump and lose her train of thought. She nervously waited for the caller ID to kick in, surprisingly praying to whatever god or gods there might be that it wasn't Kanda. She may have needed to talk to him, but not right now. She wouldn't be able to take it at the moment.
When the number finally appeared after what seemed like an eternity, Ivy sighed in relief and calmly answered.
"Hey, Lenalee."
"Hey, Ivy!" the Chinese girl cheerily replied on the other end. "Lavi's throwing a Christmas party at his place-"
"A Christmas party," Ivy dully and skeptically stated in a deadpan tone, even though it was a rather predictable action for Lavi. Maybe if she had stopped and taken her nose out of a book for a few moments, she would have seen it coming.
"Yeah, we would've told you sooner, but your phone was off. Anyway, we were decorating and we could use the help." Ivy took "we" to mean Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen. There was no way they could have convinced Kanda to help with such a thing. "You don't mind, do you?" If Ivy had been talking to Lenalee in person, the latter would have put on a pleading expression, complete with sparkly eyes that made her seem chibi. The Japanese had seen the Chinese employ it many times before.
"Of course not," Ivy automatically answered. You never said 'no' to Lenalee, especially when she asked like that, not even if you were Kanda. Horrible things would happen if you did, mostly by Komui's actions.
"Thanks a bunch!" Lenalee practically gushed. "Do you want one of us to come and get you?"
"Nah, I'll drive myself."
"Be careful, it looks like it's flurrying out there."
Ivy ventured over to the window and pulled open the curtains to see that her friend's words were true. "Don't worry, I'll make a slushy. You guys want some?"
Lenalee giggled. "See you soon."
"See ya."
--
Anyone else would have probably wondered exactly why it was going to take nearly seven hours to set up for a mere party. However, Ivy knew better and had been able to concentrate her efforts on the road during the drive over, which was probably for the best, and when she finally walked into Lavi's house, surprise wasn't present in the slightest. The entire first room was filled with piles upon piles of books, all varying in terms of height and level of discord. If you were able to find a clear spot to look past them all with, a rare discovery, you would have been able to see that the walls were made of bookshelves packed to the brim, thus why those books on the floor were in their present location. However, for the first time since Ivy had moved here, the first section of the floor appeared to be clear, and the absent books were now stacked up against the wall.
Why were there so many books here in the first place? Lavi's guardian, Bookman, or, if you were Lavi, 'Gramps' or 'Old Panda,' depending on his mood, was an avid collector of books and was known for going out on long trips to search for new pieces to add to his collection, which he was doing now, sending a large amount home every other week via FedEx or some other poor delivery service. The UPS man practically refused to make deliveries to the place any more and no one could blame him. Lavi himself, while mainly acting like an idiot, was actually quite an intellectual and enjoyed reading, would then read all of the newly acquired books, and then toss them into their current disorganized state.
"Oi! Ivy-chan! You're here!"
The rabbit's voice drifted over to where Ivy was standing, and she could see him perched at the top of a tall ladder, adding a few more books onto those already lined up against the wall. Below him, Allen was climbing down said ladder, supposedly to collect more books from Lenalee. Lavi simply jumped off the ladder, complete with mid-air summersault, and surprisingly landed on his feet. Ivy guessed all his bones were still intact since she hadn't heard anything snap and had to admit she felt moderately disappointed.
"Good thing, too," Lavi continued, "now this can go a lot faster."
"Lavi, never do that again!" Allen told off his friend in a panicked tone as he reached the ground. "You nearly took my head off!"
"Ah, but I didn't, did I?" the redhead said in a tone like a mother scolding their child, wagging his finger in a similar manner. "That should be what matters." Allen rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and Lenalee giggled.
"Um, we're not throwing the party in here, are we?" Ivy questioned, walking up to her friends.
"Nope, it's gonna be in the next room," Lenalee informed. "However, we thought it would be nice if people could actually just walk in, minus all the strategic maneuvers." You could tell she was politely holding back the part about sustaining injuries.
"Alright then!" Lavi enthusiastically declared, ignoring the obvious prodding at his house keeping skills. "I'll head back up top, Brit, you bring that pile to me, and Ivy-chan, you can help Lenalee with collecting books and carrying them over. Let's make this quick so we can move on to the fun stuff!" With that, the redhead proceeded to clamor up the ladder with predictable reckless abandon.
Lenalee sighed. "Well, that's Lavi for you," she remarked. "Let's head over that way, alright?" The Chinese girl practically skipped off.
Ivy allowed herself to let out a laugh. "And that's Lenalee for you. Well, we better get started, Brit."
"He's planning something stupid, you know," Allen warned.
"Cheh. Of course he is." And not even feeling remotely worried, Ivy followed the path Lenalee had carved into the sea of books.
--
7:09 PM
Kanda was going to fucking kill the rabbit. Why? Because, somehow, Lavi had dragged him into coming to a Christmas party. And not just any Christmas party, oh no. It was the rabbit's Christmas party, which could only mean that Lavi was up to something stupid, and the night wasn't going to end well. Especially for the rabbit if Kanda got a hold of him.
So, how exactly did Lavi get Kanda to show up? Allow me to take you on another strange journey to the magical world of flashbacks.
--
"How the fuck did you get into my house?"
That was the first thing Kanda asked as Lavi entered his room. He also wanted to know why the stupid rabbit had came in the first place, not to mention completely ignore the very blatant sign hanging of the door that read "NO" in large, bold, capitol letters. Surely the brain capacity to understand it was somewhere in that thick skull.
"With my super secret ninja skills!" the redhead declared, chopping his hand through the air, probably reducing a stack of imaginary cinderblocks to dust. Kanda assumed that by 'ninja skills,' the rabbit meant hiking the spare key out of the stupid ceramic frog Tiedol had placed in the garden. He was going to have to relocate that thing to a safer location, possibly the roof. Kanda took great pleasure as he imagined Lavi falling from three stories up, screaming his lungs out.
"Why the hell are you here?" Kanda growled. He wanted to get back to spending his Christmas alone. Well, mostly alone, if Ivy would just turn on her damn phone…
"I'm having a Christmas p-"
"No," Kanda deadpanned, not even allowing the rabbit to finish his sentence. No way in hell was he going to another party where Lavi was, especially not after what had happened last time. Those were some seriously bad memories and Kanda could hardly even look at a noisemaker again, let alone touch one. Not that he would touch one anyway, unless using one to cause physical pain; damn, those things were annoying.
"But, Yu-pon, you have to come!" Lavi combined his whine with a pout. He was definitely a five-year-old at heart.
"Give me one good reason." Kanda was getting ready to chunk the rabbit out the window. The Japanese had, never has, never will have, absolutely no patience for this shit.
"Ivy-chan," Lavi triumphantly stated, a victorious smile appearing on his face.
"Do you mean that as in 'she's already there and Lenalee's making sure she won't leave,' or as in 'Lenalee's coercing her to come now and there's no way she'll refuse'?" Kanda didn't like how this situation was playing out.
"Hmm…" The shorter of the two paused for dramatic effect. "The first one."
Fuck.
Reluctantly, and way against his better judgment, Kanda snagged his coat of a chair and made his way to Lavi's car.
--
Now here we are with Kanda, at a party he hates. Well, he hates all parties, but that's not the point. Not only was the room crowded with people, which is bad enough as it is, some of those people were fan girls, and we all know the horrors of that. Luckily for the male, none of them noticed him since they were all focusing on dancing to the music blaring over a set of speakers that looked like Lavi had dragged them out of the deepest corners of his basement. Forget the fan girls and Lavi's garage; that place was filled with more horrors then both of them combined.
Now, Kanda did like his music blaring, but that was only if it was something decent, i.e. rock or metal, as well as the occasional alternate tune. Hell, he would even settle for something from the 80's or 90's if he was in the right mood. But nothing, I repeat, abso-fucking-lutely nothing, would ever make Kanda like what his school considered to be "popular" music. Not with all the kooky pop noise and the retards that created rap. Fuck no, that was the kind of shit that made him want to repeatedly stab at his ears with a few dull pencils. So, of course that was exactly what was playing right now.
The music changed rhythms. Hearing the opening bars to "Can't Touch Me," Kanda shuddered once and retreated to a corner of the room.
There was absolutely no way the rabbit was making it to the New Year.
--
Lavi watched as Kanda skulked into a corner, not even feeling remotely worried for his plan.
"Tsk, tsk, Yu-pon," he commented to himself, "you are so predictable."
Then he ran to the middle of the dance floor, a shit-eating grin on his face, completely psyched up about the back flip he was going to perform. This was his song, after all.
--
Ivy had been partially thrown off when she noticed Kanda standing in a corner. No, it wasn't that he was in a corner; that was just what Kanda did at events like these. It was that he was even here in the first place. She vaguely wondered what stupid thing Lavi had said to get him here. Nevertheless, she was glad for his presence.
"Hey, Yu-kun," Ivy greeted, approaching the male and settling herself against the wall perpendicular to the one he was leaning on.
"Hey, Ivy," Kanda grumbled, sounding annoyed, even though Ivy could tell that he was trying. Hey, at least it was a start.
"How're you doing?"
"What do you think?"
"Ah, yes," Ivy mused, "it's a party; it's the rabbit's; and they keep playing nothing but all the shit you can't fucking stand." The female finished her analysis with a laugh. "Look on the bright side, Yu-kun: at least you've got me."
Kanda smirked. "That's right," he remarked, "you're immune to the stuff. I'd say that's worth about three points."
"Yu-kun, you make it sound like a disease!" Ivy scolded, laughing. "Even so, I think I deserve more if it's that horrible, but I'll give you two points cause I'm nice." She paused, remembering the earlier issue. Her voice became quieter. "Oh, yeah, I wanna apologize: I completely forgot about getting you something for Christmas."
"Cheh, don't worry about it." The male easily shoved away the problem. "I didn't get you a thing, either. So, sorry, I suppose."
Ivy smiled, feeling relieved. "Right, even," she agreed. "Besides, all I want is…" Her voice faded out once more and she wondered whether or not to finish that sentence. Oh, what the fuck, she had nothing to loose.
"All I want is-!"
"Wow, Ivy-chan, Yu-pon! You two lucked out!" Lavi seemed to appear out of nowhere, spouting out his usual nonsense. On top of that, he seemed drunk, almost like when he had attempted to spike the punch, except this time it had actually worked.
Ivy sighed, already exasperated with whatever the rabbit was planning. "What the hell are you talking about, Lavi?!" she shouted.
"Look up."
It was a simple command, but for some reason, those two words sounded like a death sentence. Knowing that she would probably regret it, Ivy did as she was told. Upon seeing what her friend meant, she groaned.
"You know what mistletoe means!" the redhead practically sang, a Cheshire Cat-esque grin spreading across his face. Yeah, that spiked punch suspicion was definitely rising.
"Goddammit, Lavi, go fu-" Ivy was unable to finish the insult due to Kanda's lips pressing against her own. Her heart rate automatically sped up.
"Yu-kun…?"
Somehow, Lavi's smile was able to grow even wider. "Ivy-chan and Yu-pon, sitting in a tree-!" he happily sang.
Ivy's voice turned into a growl. "Leave." That one word, coupled with her glare, which plainly said "I will kill you in a slow, painful, horrifiic, gruesome manner," automatically made Lavi freeze. Then, like the rabbit he was, he ran. "Stupid rabbit," Ivy grumbled, her face now turning a light shade of red.
"Sorry about that." Kanda's voice made Ivy focus. Yu Kanda apologizing? That was something you didn't hear everyday, especially not twice.
"Eh? Oh, right. It's fine. I get it. It's the only way he would have left us alone," she nervously rambled. As expected in situations like these, the next stage was an awkward silence.
"So… You were saying earlier?" Kanda eventually prompted, trying to resume conversation.
"Oh. That." The color on the girl's face slightly deepened. "It's nothing."
"Feh," the male skeptically remarked.
"But, um, Yu-kun, are you doing anything for New Year's?" Ivy softly questioned.
"Hn. I haven't thought about it." Kanda paused momentarily. "But… If you want to come over… you're welcome to it."
Ivy mentally giggled. Was it just her or did Kanda actually seem embarrassed? She could have sworn the male was blushing. Yet another first. "I'd love to," she accepted, smiling. Surprisingly, Kanda smiled back. If Lavi hadn't of left, he would've dubbed it a Christmas miracle if he'd stuck around.
It seemed that the rabbit was going to make it to the New Year after all. Now, whether he would survive that… Well, that was an issue that would later take on some debate.