Exception

By: Aviantei

84. The Future Holds Way More Than Anyone Is Expecting

Come one, come all, it's time for the part where the main couple fumbles around in an awkward conversation to see where they stand! You know it, maybe you love it or maybe you don't, but the moment has at last arrived.

In one corner we have Minomasu Ivy, beyond flustered and not even sure where to start talking! In the other, we have Kanda Yū, nowhere near as flustered on the outside but also fresh off a day of sharing class periods with Lavi Bookman, who refused to stop pestering him with words and notes in the middle lectures to get the scoop. The stage: their usual study room; the subject: how they feel about the possibility of living together at some point in the future, which may be soon.

Ready…talk!

"Were you thinking about avoiding me?"

"…I'm sorry."

After their little encounter outside the study room, the two had moved inside, taking their usual seats. In contrast to the usual, however, both parties had their backpacks set aside, with nothing taken out of them, and they'd adjusted their chairs to be facing each other instead of the table. While Kanda wasn't mad as he asked the question, Ivy had still dipped her head in apology, her own sense of guilt getting to her. Kanda sighed.

"Look, if you're not in the mood to talk, we don't have to talk," he said, though he very much wanted to talk. He needed some peace after the last thirty-six hours he'd had, and he was certain Ivy did, too. In most situations, that involved the two of them spending time together, but it was a bit up to debate whether or not that would be helpful in the present moment. "We can talk later, because I think we need to, but if you need time to yourself, I'm not gonna fight it." Heaven knew that Kanda's mind wasn't all nice and neat at the moment, either, so he wouldn't say no to finding another quiet place and meditating the embarrassment away.

"I…I dunno," Ivy said, each word she hesitated on just making her feel even more off-kilter. "Like, time might help, but I'm also worried that not talking about it is just gonna make it harder to say anything." She was already getting caught up in that pattern when it came to the whole Alma situation; no need to add something else into the pile. "Um, can you please tell me what you're thinking? That might make it easier to get my thoughts in order…"

Kanda had rather been hoping Ivy would share her thoughts first so that he could get his own expectations in order, but she'd beaten him to the punch when it came to asking. Well, someone had to share first, so it might as well be him. They had the limited time of a class period, after all, so no sense in wasting it. "About the living together thing?" he asked, just to make sure, and Ivy nodded. "I'm not…against the idea." Oh, great, now he was hesitating over his words. That was sure to make a recipe for disaster.

Ivy sat up, leaning forward in her seat. "You're not?!"

"Why the hell do you sound so surprised?"

"I don't know… I guess I just wasn't sure how you'd feel." Nothing like a problem that could be solved by asking. Kanda might've been offended if Ivy's rapid switch from embarrassment to excitement to embarrassment again wasn't so cute.

"And you?"

"M-me?"

"Yeah, you. I'm not asking anyone else how they feel about living with me." Lenalee was just about the one other person in their group that he could see himself able to stand as a roommate, and that was just not worth the trouble of dealing with Komui, even with the man's recent character development. Not wanting to come across as upset, Kanda tapered down the instinct to fold his arms across his chest and crossed his legs instead. "I mean, based on your reaction earlier, I can make a guess, but I'd rather hear it from you…"

And so his blush from earlier was back, which did help Ivy feel a little better, even if at the same time it just made her a bit more flustered. It being just the two of them instead of in front of their friends was also a nice adjustment. "I…I think I like the idea a lot. But it still makes me nervous." Not quite able to make eye contact, Ivy twiddled her thumbs. "Not because of you! But because I worry I'd be bad at it, or maybe I'd do something you wouldn't like, and we'd fight about it…" That was a common thing that couples went through, right? And, sure, it didn't have to be the end of the world, but it could also feel like it, and the idea of being that vulnerable with another person felt equal parts liberating and terrifying, all at once. Weren't human emotions just great?

"I hear you." Kanda was more than self-aware that he was particular about his space, and it had caused plenty of tension with his foster siblings before, and it had been a big reason why Tiedoll had moved Kanda into his own room. Things were easier since it was, for the most part, Kanda in the house for the present, but that would be something to contend with. "I'm not saying we won't fight or disagree about anything, but I…like you enough to be willing to work on it." Man, the emotional vulnerability was getting to be almost too much to take, so Kanda cleared his throat. "Besides, it's not like there's much point in talking about something that's probably not gonna happen right away…" The idea of convincing their guardians to agree to something like that seemed pretty farfetched, all things considered.

"Yeah, you're right!" Ivy said, taking the out as fast as she could. If she had an opportunity to not embarrass the ever-loving crap out of herself, then you can sure bet she was gonna take it! "It's silly, isn't it, getting so worked up over something that's not even gonna happen for a while. It's not like we don't have enough to worry about as it is, so we should—"

"'Yet'?"

Considering that she hadn't been able to calm down as it were already, Kanda's keen ear for the finer details of language smacked right into her without any sense of reservation whatsoever. Yes, that's right, at the critical moment in their conversation, Ivy had gone ahead and made the classic Freudian Slip! And while it might've just been nice of Kanda to let the thing go and move on, we're all pretty aware that's not quite Kanda's style, now is it?

Because "yet" implies that it's something that would happen someday.

Surprising even himself, Kanda didn't mind that idea one bit.

"Ivy…where do you want to go from here?" Nothing about Kanda's tone was accusatory, but the idea still made her wince a bit. That sure sounded like a conversation about the future, and wasn't that scary? "We've both already decided we're going to college, and we've both gotten in to a handful of places. That's for certain." Both of them had their own interests and goals, and the thought of holding themselves back over a relationship wasn't an idea they were willing to accept. "But what does that look like? Are we going to try to go together? Is that something you want?" Because, now that he was saying it, Kanda realized it was kind of something he wanted. Yeah, never telling the rabbit about this ever. He'd never shut up. Good thing they were tucked away in the privacy of their study room, away from prying ears of any variety.

"I…" All things considered, Ivy hadn't had much of a chance to think about it. They'd started dating in the fall, but that time had been the simple honeymoon phase, and then there had been three whole story arcs since then—and the combo of TRIangular/QUADrilateral, Robot Fight Club, and Lenalee Rebellion wasn't quite a recipe that gave someone the mental time and space to go into deep contemplation about their future prospects. "I think, if we can, I'd like to stay close to each other." Ivy hadn't ever dealt with a long-distance relationship (or any other kind of romantic relationship for that matter) before, so she didn't know how she'd handle it. "I want to be able to see you as often as possible. But I also don't want to hold you back from anything you want to accomplish to do that."

If he'd asked her to restrict her options just for him, then Ivy wouldn't have a very pleasant response to that. She sure as hell wasn't about to turn around and demand that from someone else.

Not that Kanda could read her mind or anything, but he had about the same values, so there wouldn't be any issues on the compatibility side of things. Even so, whether they'd managed to get the words out and communicate was anyone's guess. Kanda sighed. "We have a lot to talk about."

Oh, Yū-kun, you don't even know the half of it… Man, Ivy's usual strategy of emotional avoidance wasn't doing her many favors in the long-run now was it. And yet, given the circumstances— "I know we need to figure this out, but right now is…"

"It's a lot, huh?" Ivy nodded, and, while part of Kanda just wanted to push forward and decide everything out so Ivy had one less thing to worry about, that didn't seem like it was going to be the best option. "Then once you're done getting your housing settled, let's take some time for us," Kanda said, and Ivy tilted her head. She kinda felt like taking time for just them was all they'd been doing lately, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing if she was still as frazzled as she was. "We do need to figure this out soon, but it's not an emergency. You having somewhere to stay is way more important." He reached out, brushing some hair out of her face. "Once that's taken care of, we can sit down and talk about college together, alright?"

"Mn. Alright." Feeling just a bit needy, Ivy leaned into Kanda's palm, and he let it linger, the two of them soaking in the touch to help calm their nerves. "Thank you, Yū-kun. I don't know where I'd be without you. A thousand points."

"A thousand-and-one." And that was just about as much as Kanda could manage to get out. He meant a lot of other things, but the specific words weren't happening, but Ivy smiled. She already knew that Kanda was much more of a person of action than words. They took a few moments to just sit there and appreciate each other until the silence started to creep in and the rest of the world came back into focus. They hadn't used up the whole class period, but it was starting to get there. "Fuck, we didn't get much homework done, did we?"

Ivy gave Kanda's hand a squeeze before letting go. "No, we didn't."

"You're gonna be busy tomorrow, too… Wanna go somewhere after school and get yourself ahead so you don't need to worry about it tomorrow?"

"Sounds perfect."

The next day came without any sense of consideration for Ivy's lingering feelings of anxiety, which was just fucking delightful of it. Forget the typical dislike for Mondays—Tuesdays were starting to make it onto her shit list. Was it unfair to ostracize an entire day of the week just based on one bad one? Oh, for sure, but Ivy had held a grudge over way less substantial things, and that wasn't about to change anytime soon.

Besides, thinking about the frustration made it just as bit easier to plow through the nervousness. Not a lot, but every little bit counted some days.

And it was armed with that every little bit that Ivy marched her way out of the school (after getting a good luck kiss from Kanda, of course), past her usual bus spot. While it was a walk she was familiar with whenever she got a ride from Kanda, she didn't make it all the way to the student parking lot, instead stopping at the checkpoint for those getting picked up by their parents or guardians or what have you. Given most of the Black Order student body was either driving themselves or stubborn enough to take the bus/walk so they didn't have to get picked up in the first place, it wasn't a very long line, which meant that it didn't take Ivy long at all to see Klaud Nine's dark grey sports car pull up, its window rolling down soon after, and none other than the woman herself was in the driver's seat.

Klaud Nine was intimidating, both because she was beautiful and because of the thick scar across her nose and brow. It didn't help that, if anyone asked where said scar came from, all she would do was smile without explaining anything at all. Her blonde hair fell into half her face, while the much of its length was half kept up in a messy ponytail, the rest flowing free. Both her earrings and her choker were accented with deep red garnets, and her fashion sense was on point. She was the exact sort of older woman that Lenalee would aspire to be and have a crush on all at once.

For obvious reasons, Ivy didn't quite share those feelings, but she could understand the logic.

"Hello, Ivy."

"…Good afternoon, Klaud Nine."

Ivy didn't mean to sound sulky, but she did feel pretty awkward. Klaud Nine, who knew the girl well enough and had dealt with plenty of kids who were way more feral, didn't feel offended. The woman just also knew that Ivy wasn't the type to want any coddling. "Well, standing here isn't going to get anything in. How about you hop in and we go get something to eat?"

Ivy nodded, following instructions and buckling herself into the passenger seat. That done, Klaud Nine played the game of pulling through the pickup line and getting the heck out of the busy high school parking lot, the two sitting in silence. Lau Shimin, the sifaka, popped his head out of Klaud's handbag by Ivy's feet and scampered up her leg and into her lap. For some reason that Ivy had never been able to understand, she always seemed to be able to pass the animal vibe check. As a kid, Link had been jealous since cats didn't like him at all.

"I'm sorry for the trouble," Ivy said after it was clear Klaud Nine was waiting for her to start it. Back whenever she'd first been transferred into the woman's care, Ivy had maintained her silence out of sheer stubbornness; in the present, she knew all that did was make it more awkward for herself. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to bother you until I was moving into college…"

"Don't worry about it. Helping kids work through their trouble is my job. Not that you've been much trouble." Once she'd had clear expectations laid out for her, Ivy had followed through on everything to the letter, even surpassing the minimum grades Klaud Nine had put in place. Ivy was a smart girl who'd just happened to get mixed up in more than she could handle at the time. Aside from cracking Ivy out of her shell, Klaud Nine hadn't needed to do much at all. "This sort of thing happens. If I didn't want to deal with it, I wouldn't volunteer to help kids out in the first place."

Hey, look, more stuff that Ivy knew was true from a logical perspective but still had a hard time believing! Getting tossed around the foster system in her formative years had done a number on her. No wonder I ended up being such a punk. But sitting around and moping was just going to make the whole afternoon even more painful than it was already going to be, so Ivy just hummed in response, scratching Lau Shimin's head. "…Thank you for helping me."

"That's more like it." While Klaud Nine had done her job and checked in with Ivy several times over the past few years, it had been some time since they'd seen each other in person, and the change in the girl's demeanor was subtle, but still plenty obvious in comparison to how she'd been whenever Klaud Nine had first picked Ivy up. "Well, I know we'll need to get this housing situation sorted, but that'll be better handled with some food in your stomach, so let's catch up about other things. Your senior prom's coming up, right? Were you planning on going this time? It's your last year in high school and all." Ivy hadn't attended the previous year, stating that she wasn't interested, but there was every chance her mind had changed given that teenagers did a lot of growth at that age.

"P-prom?" While Klaud Nine had just been hoping for a light and easy conversation, she had not been expecting Ivy to sound so caught off guard. It was already mid-April—prom was coming up fast. "Oh, shit, I didn't even think about that, not that I think Yū-kun wants to go, and—" Having realized what she just said, Ivy turned an even darker shade of red, burying her face in her hands as Lau Shimin protested to losing his precious head scritches.

But the fact that she said a specific name instead of just talking in general terms…

It seemed they had a lot more to catch up on than Klaud Nine had been expecting.

[Author's Notes]

It's December 23, which makes it my sixteenth fanfiction anniversary. I've officially spent over half of my life on this hobby, and, by extension, with this fic still being active. Whoops on the latter. I don't think teenage me ever thought it would take me this long to make this story work, but here we are.

As usual, I do try at minimum to update this story on the anniversary, and this year I actually have updates for most of my other multichapter fics! There are few stories I updated in the past few months that won't see chapters because of drafting constructions. Still, I hope everyone enjoys whatever does come up!

When it comes to this story, I have been pushing forward to make major progress this past year. No promises, but I would love it if I could finish up the draft for this fic in 2025. I think it's possible since I'm in the final mini arcs, so who knows. I'll give it my best anyways!

Thanks to anyone who's read this fic ever. Fanfiction has had a lot of influence on my life, so I'm glad to still be kicking. Happy holidays, and I'll see you for this next chapter for this story in the new year!

Next Time: "85. Lattes and Landladies." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[23 December 2024]