Innocent Rain, Chapter 16

[saxon_jesus]

Title: Innocent Rain
Pairings: Lavi/Kanda, Allen/Lenalee
Rating: R
Warnings: Language. Lots of it, innuendo, homo/heterosexual romance (that may get graphic--for which we will warn), violence, some tragic elements, etc.
Summary: One hundred and fourteen years after the supposed "final battle" with the Earl, a group of five Exorcists awake to discover that their enemies were not as vanquished as they thought...
Disclaimer: We own nothing. Except our original characters.

Warnings for this chapter: Slightly not worksafe? Includes the word "nipple?" (which we can't read without laughing--we're so childish), the threat of rabies? Slight OOC-ness? Death threats? TRANSVESTITES?


Chapter 16-Sweet Transvestite

September 2, 2013-The Dark Order, Main Branch

It was the most adorable thing Lenalee had ever seen. Her chills had gotten worse, and from the congestion and sore throat, Lenalee knew she was getting sick. She walked back from breakfast, sniffing all the while, and decided to take a small nap, hoping she’d feel better afterwards. But the sight before her had stopped her in her tracks, because it was just too cute.

Lying against the wall between their rooms sat Lavi and Kanda-kun, their faces soft and relaxed in the clutches of sleep. She thought she heard a light snore emerge from Lavi’s throat, but that could have been caused by his head’s position on Kanda-kun’s shoulder, the older man’s head resting on his own. They curled against each other with Lavi nearly on Kanda-kun’s lap. By far the cutest thing, though, was their intertwined hands that sat on Lavi’s knee.

Lenalee had to prevent herself from melting at the endearing scene in front of her. She heard footsteps nearby and tore her eyes away to see who was heading toward her. It was Allen. He looked almost as bad as she did, and his nose dripped. Wiping it away with his sleeve, he caught sight of her.

“Hey, Lenalee,” he called, holding a hailing hand out. Lenalee smiled and turned her attention back to the two sleeping Exorcists; Allen’s gaze followed her own, and a mischievous grin darkened his features.

“What have we here?” He asked, his voice low and full of humor.

“Looks like Kanda-kun was more tired than he thought,” Lenalee said, grinning.

“This would be cute if they weren’t both guys,” Allen muttered, his voice back to normal.

“What are you talking about Allen? I think it’s cute to see two guys bonding as friends!” She exclaimed. Allen snorted.

“Lenalee,” Allen said in a tone that implied she had missed something very important, “they aren’t just friends.”

“What do you mean, Allen?” Lenalee asked, her brow furrowing in curiosity.

“Don’t you remember how Lavi kissed Kanda? That means a little more than friendship.”

“I thought Lavi was just joking. I mean, he’s kissed Kanda-kun before, as a joke.” Lenalee was thoroughly mystified.

“This is a friendly kiss,” Allen said, leaning down and pecking her lightly on the forehead, Lenalee’s heart skipped a beat. “This is a more-than-friendly kiss.” He lightly touched his lips to hers; she felt her face burn like it was on fire. She didn’t know what to say.

“Allen…” Lenalee said softly, still in shock. “Why did you kiss me?”

Her white-haired Exorcist blushed and looked away. “I, er, well, because… you seemed to - to need a demonstration… or something,” he stammered out.

For some reason, Lenalee felt disappointed.

“Oh… I see. Well, er, thanks, Allen,” she stammered back, blushing so hard that she thought her head would catch fire. “Well, er, I’m not feeling so well, so I think I’ll, erm, go back to my room. See you later, Allen…” Her voice drifted off, and she turned and walked very quickly to her room, flopping on the bed the second she reached it. She didn’t bother to get undressed.

---

The sun was at the crux of its position in the sky above Lavi’s personal, rock-covered beach. Waves crashed peacefully nearby, and Lavi soaked in the rays with his head facing the bright heavens. His sun was there, and everything was alright again. Lavi smiled lazily and sighed happily.

The noise brought him back to the real world, though it took him a moment to resituate himself. He was on the cold, stone floor, but he was remarkably warm despite that fact. Yuu’s left hand was in his right, which put his sun in his blind spot. He couldn’t move, though, not without waking the other man. He also couldn’t move his head to gaze on the man he loved, as said man was currently using his head as a pillow. Lavi smiled, chuckling softly. It didn’t matter if he could see Yuu or not. It was simply enough to know he was there, to feel the other man’s presence next to him. He took Yuu’s other hand, which had fallen to the floor at some point, and wrapped it around his shoulder. Perhaps Yuu wouldn’t thank him later, as the man hated being touched, but Lavi needed the contact. If he couldn’t see his sun, he at least needed to feel him.

Lavi’s sun stirred, and the weight of his head stopped resting on Lavi’s. He looked up and saw the disoriented face of the man he had missed so much. Yuu looked down at Lavi and grunted. He stood up, pulling Lavi with him and, stumbling a little from what Lavi assumed were the pins and needles in his legs, led them back into his room. Lavi smelled the familiar sharp scent of cinnamon with the underlying sweet scent of lotuses, and he immediately felt at home. Yuu sat Lavi down on his bed and proceeded to throw off his Exorcist jacket and pants. He joined Lavi on the bed, clad only in a tight shirt and boxers.

In unspoken agreement, they lay down, stretching out their sore muscles. Lavi wrapped his arms tightly around Yuu’s clothed chest and nuzzled his head into the junction of Yuu’s shoulder. He felt Yuu shift so his right arm was at the back of Lavi’s head. His left arm moved around Lavi’s waist. Lavi smiled contentedly, and sleep claimed him once more.

He awoke to Yuu’s hair tickling his chest. Prying an eye open, he was surprised to find the other man leaning over him. Lavi took a deep intake of breath as Yuu took his left hand and ran it down his cheek.

“Yuu?” He asked, his voice still heavy with sleep. The other man’s eyes widened, and he pulled his hand back, turning away. “What was that?” He wondered why Yuu was acting so grossly out of character, not that he was really complaining. That caress-and that’s what it had been, somehow-had felt very good, and Lavi’s chest swelled with it.

The man looked away determinedly. “You… were whining in your sleep,” he said awkwardly.

“I was?”

“Yes, it woke me up.” Yuu shot him a glare that Lavi was sure the other man didn’t mean.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. Yuu grunted.

There was an awkward silence, the first one Lavi had ever experienced with Yuu.

Suddenly, the older man spoke. “How could you forget who I am?” He asked incredulously, and Lavi could have sworn he’d heard a note of genuine hurt in the man’s voice.

It was Lavi’s turn to look away. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he muttered under his breath, his voice muffled by the pillow he had pulled up to cover his face. Yuu grabbed the pillow roughly and threw it to the other side of the room. He looked legitimately angry.

“You had me fucking worried, Baka!” He growled loudly, taking Lavi’s chin in his hand and forcing him to look at the older man. Lavi refused to meet eyes-or eye, or whatever-with Yuu. He didn’t know how to react. Yuu growled.

“Sorry,” he whispered, and he meant it. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough, and Yuu forced his face up, his fingers like a vice. Actually, they were starting to hurt, but Lavi didn’t particularly care. Yuu was there, and that was all that mattered.

“Look me in the eye if you mean it,” Yuu yelled. Lavi’s eye widened. He hadn’t expected Yuu to raise his voice. He repeated his sentiment, this time gazing straight at the man he loved. “Now tell me what that fucking psychiatrist did to you.”

“What?” Lavi asked, shocked.

“You’re… all wrong,” Yuu said angrily, though Lavi knew the emotion wasn’t aimed at him.

“I-what?” Lavi was very confused.

Yuu sighed angrily. “You didn’t say ‘good morning,’ you haven’t jumped me-it’s like you don’t really think I’m here. You-” Yuu broke off with a frustrated scoff. Taking another breath, he continued, “you… aren’t acting like yourself. You’re not even acting like ‘Lavi.’”

Lavi thought he heard another note of real worry in Yuu’s voice.

“I… I remembered who I was,” Lavi said in a hushed tone, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

“Nani?”

“My name was Liam, Liam Flynn-my father and mother sold me to Bookman,” Lavi explained.

“Do you want me to call you that?” Yuu asked, leaning over Lavi a bit more. Lavi unhooked his hands and brought one up to the ends of Yuu’s hair.

“No,” he said. Yuu shot him a curious look. “I’m Lavi. I haven’t been Liam since I was six. I… don’t think I could ever be him again. I’ve seen too much.” He wasn’t looking at the other man, but his hands remained steadfastly in Yuu’s hair.

“What else did the psychiatrist do to you?” Yuu asked suspiciously.

“He made Voice appear,” Lavi replied, still looking away.

“Voice?” Yuu questioned.

“He’s not one of my personas; he just showed up, and he talks to me sometimes,” Lavi explained. Yuu scowled.

Lavi didn’t want to see that look, so he tried to hide. Suddenly, he felt himself slipping… where was he going?

---

Whining. A high-pitched keen that pulled Yuu right from the peaceful dream he was having. His eyes snapped open, and he decided to yell at whoever was whining and tell them to stop it, because it was interrupting his sleep. He felt air through the shirt on his chest and looked down. A bright shock of red hair was pillowed there, and the noise was coming from it. Yuu shifted the other Exorcist so he was lying on his back and leaned over him. Lavi’s face was screwed up in something akin to panic, and Yuu reached a hand out without meaning to, running it down the man’s cheek.

The look melted away, and as Yuu brought his hand back to stroke Lavi’s cheek again, he realized the other man’s uninjured eye was open.

“Yuu?” He said. His voice was very thick, and it snapped Yuu out of whatever spell he was under. He pulled his hand back like it had been burned and turned away. “What was that?”

Couldn’t the rabbit leave him alone? He didn’t want to be called out on caring. It was annoying. And troublesome. “You… were whining in your sleep,” he replied, looking anywhere but at Lavi.

“I was?” Lavi asked curiously, and Yuu struggled not to scoff.

“Yes,” he said. “It woke me up.” He was still angry about that.

“Sorry,” Lavi said softly, and Yuu grunted in acknowledgement. Perhaps he could forgive the idiot for waking him. They lapsed into silence, for which Yuu was thankful.

But then he realized something. Lavi was not acting right. For one, the other man was silent. It hung in the air around them, suffocating them both. All the while, Lavi didn’t shift from his position. Regardless of whether he was himself or “Lavi,” the other man was always moving, as if staying still would literally kill him. And that brought up another point. Just what had Lavi been thinking the night before? The more he thought of it, the angrier he got, and all of a sudden, he found himself turning back to the other man.

“How could you forget who I am?” He asked accusingly, stopping himself from pointing rudely at the redhead.

Lavi turned away, and Yuu found his curiosity piqued by such an action. Lavi-the real Lavi-was always very frank. He never looked away from Yuu, not for a second. He pulled a pillow up to cover his face, and Yuu wanted to bat it away.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lavi muttered. Yuu could barely understand him, muted as the redhead’s voice was by the pillow. Yuu shot him an angry look, wrestling the pillow from Lavi’s grip. He threw it to the other side of the room, not particularly caring where it landed.

“You had me fucking worried, Baka!” He growled, before he could stop himself, his voice too loud. He took Lavi’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and wrenched it to face him. Lavi didn’t meet his eyes, and Yuu growled. Lavi shifted uncomfortably, the first movement he’d made since he had awoken.

“Sorry,” the man whispered. Yuu sensed a note of sincerity, but he couldn’t stand Lavi not meeting his gaze. Because Lavi always looked him in the eye, always told him everything frankly and point-blank. He pulled Lavi’s face up a bit.

“Look me in the eye if you mean it!” He yelled. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but Lavi was just so wrong that it was infuriating him. What had happened while he had been away? Thankfully, Lavi looked at him as he spoke this time, and Yuu drank in the sight of the man’s striking green eye. He had missed it, somehow. “Now tell me what that fucking psychiatrist did to you,” he ordered.

“What?” Lavi’s voice was shocked, as if he didn’t understand the conversation jump.

“You’re… all wrong,” Yuu said, and he couldn’t keep the anger out of his voice anymore.

“I-what?”

Yuu sighed in frustration. “You didn’t say ‘good morning,’” he explained, “you haven’t jumped me-it’s like you don’t really think I’m here. You-“ Yuu scoffed. He didn’t quite know how to explain it. He breathed in deeply and continued as best he could, “you… aren’t acting like yourself. You’re not even acting like ‘Lavi.’” Damn it, he sounded worried.

“I… I remembered who I was,” Lavi said quietly after a moment, and he pulled his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. Yuu stared. That was a mannerism he had never seen before. Lavi had never felt the need to protect himself like that, not like Yuu had.

“Nani?” He found himself saying, still trying to comprehend the change in Lavi’s body language.

“My name was Liam, Liam Flynn-my father and mother sold me to Bookman.” Lavi’s voice was flat, and Yuu recognized it as the voice he used to report things to his former master. He was keeping emotions at bay, then. Yuu wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or worried. “Lavi” hid his emotions, and even though something that familiar relieved him, he still wondered how broken Lavi was.

“Do you want me to call you that?” Yuu asked, and he leaned over Lavi again. Yuu was genuinely surprised when Lavi brought one of his hands up to his dark hair and started twirling it through his fingers.

“No,” he replied, almost absently. Yuu wondered why. Some of that emotion must have shown on his face, because Lavi continued. “I’m Lavi,” he said. “I haven’t been Liam since I was six. I… don’t think I could ever be him again. I’ve seen too much.”

What could that mean? Yuu wondered just what Lavi had remembered. Lavi was looking away again, and though that angered him, Yuu did nothing to fix that. Finally, he couldn’t keep the question to himself anymore.

“What else did the psychiatrist do to you?” There had to be more. Just remembering who he was wasn’t enough to break Lavi. The man was stronger than that.

“He made Voice appear,” Lavi replied quietly, and he turned his face infinitesimally farther away.

“Voice?” Yuu asked, a feeling of dread sinking into his stomach.

“He’s not one of my personas; he just showed up, and he talks to me sometimes,” Lavi explained. Yuu scowled-was Lavi crazier than he had thought?

Then Lavi’s eye shifted out of focus, and when it refocused on him, it wasn’t Lavi who was looking at him.

“Who are you?” He asked, though he already knew.

“Hmmm… you’re a right bit quicker than that other man. No wonder Lavi loves you so much,” the man who was not Lavi commented. He had a thick Irish accent, and Yuu had a bit of trouble understanding it for a moment. “I’m Liam, but you’ve probably already guessed that.” He held out his hand, and Yuu shook it, dumbfounded.

“You are… how do you exist?” He asked.

“Lavi is a multiple personality. It’s his own fault, too. If he hadn’t had Bookman take away his memories, and if he hadn’t thrown all his unwanted emotions into the same corner of his mind to forget those, too, I wouldn’t’ve existed. But I do, so there’s no use crying over spilt blood… oh, wait, the expression was ‘milk,’ wasn’t it? Oh well, it all equates to the same thing…”

Yuu stared. He didn’t know what to say.

“So, listen, Lavi’s not gonna tell you what the doctor did, so I suppose I will, so listen up carefully.”

Yuu could only nod as the strange man in front of him explained everything. The more the man said, the angrier Yuu got, and by the time the man had finished, Yuu was steaming.

“Oh, and by the way, don’t blame Lavi for the suicide attempts. Whenever he thought of depressing things, I tended to get closer to the surface. So, yeah, the suicide attempts were mine-sorry,” the man said, raising a hand in apology. “I did my best to keep Lavi from doing anything while you were gone, despite my desire to be dead.” Liam grimaced and disappeared, replaced a moment later with Lavi. Yuu felt relieved, but then he remembered that he had a psychiatrist to kill.

“Stay here, Baka Usagi, I’ll be right back,” he growled, pulling on his pants and activating his Innocence as he stormed from the room. He heard footsteps behind him, and when he turned, he saw Lavi following him.

“But Yuu!” The other man shouted, a pathetic look on his face.

“Fine, whatever, you can come with me,” Yuu said. He surged onward, ignoring Lavi’s shouts, asking where they were headed.

He barged into the hospital wing without grace and grabbed the receptionist’s lapels in a tight fist, raising the lady from her chair.

“Where’s this Larry guy?” He hissed at the lady. She whimpered in fear, and Yuu was immediately annoyed. He didn’t understand how people got frightened so easily. She pointed over at an office down the hall, and Yuu set off toward it, stopping when he got to a door with a plaque that read Larry Birchwood, MD. Yuu threw the door open and pulled Mugen from its sheath, pointing the blade directly at the white-haired man’s head.

“You’re going to die for what you did to Lavi,” he yelled, lunging forward. He ignored the patient that scrambled out of his way. The man raised his hands in a calming gesture, but Yuu ignored that, too. Before he could slice the man, though, strong arms wrapped around his middle, and Lavi’s familiar scent of paper and ink wafted up to his nose. He felt a pressure on his right shoulder and noted that Lavi’s head was resting there.

“Don’t, Yuu, he’s not worth it,” Lavi said into his shoulder. His voice was very small, almost weak, broken. Which, Yuu supposed, the man currently was.

Still, Yuu allowed his Innocence to deactivate, and it became an incorporeal blue light as it shot back into his hip.

“So… wait… you’re - you’re Kanda?” The psychiatrist asked. Yuu growled.

“Yes, I am,” he said curtly. “You come near Lavi again and I will kill you, regardless of his wishes.”

Larry quivered in his chair. The man nodded tremulously, and Yuu turned around to face Lavi.

“You sure?” He asked the redhead. Lavi nodded, and Yuu sighed, disappointed. “Fine, let’s go back to the room.” He grabbed Lavi’s wrist and pulled him away. Lavi followed without complaint. A minute or two later, he mentioned something about being tired, but other than that, the other man remained silent.

They sat on Yuu’s bed as soon as they got back. Lavi stretched out, pulling Yuu down with him.

“Thanks, Yuu, for defending me. But that man already got his-Voice told me.”

Yuu stiffened. He assumed that Voice was Liam, and he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Lavi having someone else there in his head. His personas didn’t count, as they had never been real, but Liam was Lavi’s younger self, traumatized by the memories that Lavi had thrown away in order to forget, if only for a moment. Actually, many of his mannerisms and speech patterns were similar to the ones that Lavi’s real personality had, and Yuu wondered who had influenced who.

“Voice tells me he’s going away soon,” Lavi said, breaking the silence that had somehow formed. “He said he’s juxtaposing himself to me.”

Yuu looked at him questioningly. “I do not… understand,” he said, looking away at the last word. His desk was suddenly very, very interesting. Had it always had that strange knothole on that leg?

“Oh, ‘juxtaposing’ means ‘to place close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.’ He means that he’s going to become part of me-part of my personality, I would assume.”

Yuu wondered how it was that Lavi knew exactly what stumped him every time. He considered himself fluent in English, and yet, he always seemed to run into words he didn’t know. It made him feel stupid, but for some reason, Lavi’s explanations never made him feel the need to defend his intelligence. Just like always, Lavi was different.

He felt his face softening and hated himself for it. But he didn’t care, because Lavi sat up a bit and fastened his lips to Yuu’s. Yuu didn’t think anymore, he simply let himself react to the feeling he hadn’t realized he had missed. When had kissing become a good thing? He didn’t care.

Lavi nibbled lightly on his bottom lip, and Yuu gasped slightly. He was a bit angry at himself for making a noise, but a moment later, it didn’t matter.

“Your mouth tastes disgusting, rabbit,” Yuu growled against Lavi’s lips, and he felt the other man smile.

“You don’t care, and you know it,” he quipped. Unfortunately, Yuu had to agree. Still, Lavi needed punishment, so Yuu decided to tug on his earring. To his surprise, Lavi let out a strangled moan. Making a curious noise, Yuu pulled on it again, and Lavi reacted in a similar fashion. Smiling deviously, Yuu leaned away and moved his lips to Lavi’s left ear, replacing his hand. Lavi’s breath grew much faster as Yuu began to suck lightly around the earring. Feeling rather daring, he ran his tongue along the lobe, and Lavi screamed.

It was really fun, actually, making Lavi react like that, and it made him feel good too, surprisingly. An ego boost, almost. The hitches in Lavi’s breath, the way he bent his head sideways to allow Yuu more access, the way he shivered and moaned when Yuu hit a particularly sensitive spot, it was all very arousing, and Yuu pressed himself closer, craving the other man’s body.

Lavi gasped and pushed Yuu away, holding him at shoulders’ length. “S-sorry, Yuu, bu… but I-I think we should… stop,” Lavi said, gasping heavily, his face flushed from exertion.

“Why?” Yuu asked, panting himself.

Lavi looked away for a second before meeting his eyes again. “Well, aren’t yo-”

The door slammed open, cutting off whatever Lavi was about to say. Yuu turned and glared at the intruder.

“S -sorry, guys, but c-could one of you g-g-get Lenalee something t-to eat?” Moyashi said through chattering teeth. “I w-would, b-b-but I-oh, shit, not ag-gain.” He turned rather green and ran into Yuu’s room, reaching the open window in time to spill the contents of his stomach outside. Yuu felt his stomach flop uncomfortably as the white-haired boy retched.

“Lenalee’s sick?” Lavi asked, seeming surprised.

“Y-yeah,” Moyashi said, wiping his mouth and grimacing at the taste in his mouth.

“Did you just vomit in my room, Moyashi?” Yuu asked, his tone dangerous. The white-haired boy gulped.

“It’s Allen,” he replied, his voice shaking despite his defiant look.

“You’ll be cleaning it up,” Yuu hissed, activating his Innocence with just a thought. He began to unsheathe it, but Moyashi turned back to the window sill and leaned out again, heaving.

“I could’ve done it on the floor, you know,” he said shakily as he wiped his mouth again. His face was paler than usual and covered in sweat. From the way he was shivering, Yuu suspected a high fever, and as much as he pretended to hate the boy, he didn’t want the idiot to be sick.

“Get out of my room and get some sleep,” he ordered, scowling, “I’ll get Lenalee something to eat.”

Moyashi nodded and left. Yuu sighed and walked over to Lenalee’s room. Once again, he heard Lavi following him, but he ignored it. The stupid rabbit could follow him if he wanted to.

He knocked politely on Lenalee’s door before entering. Her face was flushed with fever, and she had a white cloth on her forehead. Yuu walked quietly over to her, as she seemed to be sleeping, but as he reached her bedside, she looked up and smiled at him.

“Hi, Kanda-kun,” she said, trying to sound cheerful and failing. Yuu checked the cloth on her forehead and found it to be warm and nearly dry. He took it from her face and tossed it into her clothes hamper in the corner.

“Moyashi said you needed something to eat,” he said gruffly, turning away and searching her drawers for another washcloth.

“I’m not that hungry,” Lenalee replied, and Yuu grunted. A moment later, he found what he was looking for, and he pushed her drawers shut.

“Can you wait a few hours?” He asked, and she nodded. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He excused himself from the room and walked the short distance to the men’s bathroom. He put the washcloth under cold water and then returned to Lenalee’s quarters, placing the cloth on her head. She smiled up at him and closed her eyes.

“That feels good,” she said. Yuu looked down at her. Lenalee had been his first and only friend at the Order, and he was not ashamed to admit that to himself. At some point, Lavi had wormed his way into Yuu’s life, but before that, the only people Yuu had trusted were Lenalee, Marie, and Tiedoll. It had been a striking blow when the latter two had died.

He took the lift down to the gardens. Grabbing a basket, he searched the plants until he found several carrots, onions, scallions, and celery. He took a couple other plants, and he was especially pleased when he found some thyme. He smirked to himself and loaded everything in the basket. He took the lift back up, Lavi following him like some lost little puppy-or bunny, as it were.

Yuu walked into the dining hall and barged into the kitchen.

“Get out,” he said firmly to the chef.

“What?” The chef asked. He had a knife in his hand. It was halfway through a raw chicken’s leg.

“Get out, and give me that chicken,” Yuu ordered.

“I’m making your lunch-” the chef started.

“I don’t care,” Yuu said, dropping the basket on a counter and walking over to the bewildered-looking chef. He grabbed him by his collar and pulled him out of the room. “Come back in three hours. The people can wait until then. They can handle a little starvation.” He locked the door and turned to Lavi.

“I assume you know where all the large pots are?” He asked, and Lavi nodded, going into a large cupboard and pulling out exactly what Yuu was looking for. Yuu nodded curtly in thanks and placed the pan on the low stove. He heard something scraping against the ground and saw Lavi pulling up a small step-stool. Yuu grunted and stepped up onto it. As much as it hurt his pride to have to use it, he was now able to see into the pot easier. “Get me some oil,” he ordered, stepping off the stool once he was sure the pot was clean. He went back to his basket of vegetables and walked over to the sink to wash them off.

Lavi trotted back a good minute or two later with a large bottle of oil in his hands. Yuu gestured for him to put it on the counter. “Cutting board,” he muttered, and Lavi ran off again. As he finished his task, he took the dripping vegetables to the counter. Lavi pointed to the drawer with the knives, and Yuu spent a minute looking through them, testing their sharpness and assessing which ones to use before selecting a few. He found an interesting device that looked like it would skin things, so he took that, too.

The skinner worked very well on the carrots, Yuu decided as he ran it over the orange vegetables. He had always hated it when he cut too much off, and this seemed to fix the problem. He gave the first skinned one to Lavi, who ate it.

“Baka Usagi,” he growled, and Lavi had the gall to smile guiltily. “I gave that to you to put back on the counter, but apparently, you are more of an idiot than I had previously thought.” Lavi’s face dropped into an almost comical pout, and the man finished his carrot sulkily.

“You’re mean, Yuu,” he said sadly. Yuu scoffed and handed him another carrot, and this time, Lavi placed it on the counter. It struck Yuu that Lavi seemed much more like normal, if a bit like his last persona.

When he finished preparing the ingredients, he tossed them into the simmering oil at the bottom of the pan and began to sautée them. After a while, he sat back and waited for the broth to cook. The entire time, Lavi looked at him in wonder.

Eventually, he found some flour and eggs, and he scoured the kitchen until he had all the ingredients with which to make homemade noodles. Scraping the fat from the top of the broth, he put everything-including the noodles-back into the pot, and he turned the heat up again. He waited a few minutes as everything cooked, and then he told Lavi to get him some bowls. His stomach was beginning to growl, and from Lavi’s longing looks, he assumed the other man was getting hungry, too.

He poured three bowls, one for himself, one for Lenalee, and one for Lavi. He loaded them on a tray. “Carry the pot, Lavi,” he said, turning back to look at the redhead. Lavi nodded and grabbed the pot.

“OW!” He shouted, pulling his hands back. Yuu snickered to himself.

“Baaaka,” he said. “Use pot holders.” Well, perhaps Lavi wasn’t quite back to normal yet.

He waited until Lavi had the large pot before he left, heading toward Lenalee’s room. He set the tray there and then nodded to Lavi to follow him. He barged into Moyashi’s room, nearly knocking the door down.

“Can you keep anything down, Moyashi?” He asked loudly, interrupting the white-haired Exorcist’s nap. The boy woke with a jolt and a yelp.

“Eh?” He asked, and Yuu motioned for Lavi to put the pot on the floor. He handed Moyashi a ladle and a large spoon.

“Eat up,” he said, and he left the room to return to Lenalee’s. When he got there, she was smiling at him again.

“Kanda-kun!” She said cheerfully, but she started to cough a moment later, and a little drip of snot ran from her nose. She hastily grabbed a tissue and wiped it away. He nodded at her and took Lavi’s and his bowls from the tray before placing it on her lap.

“Dozo,” he said, handing her a spoon. Lenalee looked grateful.

“Oh, wow, Kanda-kun, this is delicious!” She exclaimed, smiling up at him. Yuu felt the tips of his mouth turn up and clamped down on the expression. He didn’t smile, dammit. He turned to Lavi, who was giving him a strange look.

“What?” He asked, annoyed.

“Nothin’,” Lavi said vaguely, and he pulled his bowl toward him ravenously. “HOLY SHIT!” He shouted after his first bite. “Where did you learn to cook, Yuu-chan?”

Lenalee choked on a noodle. “Kanda-kun cooked this?” She asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I watched him do the whole thing. He didn’t even measure anything out-it was like watching an artist paint a masterpiece, or something. And trust me, I’ve seen several of those being made,” Lavi replied enthusiastically, taking another few bites.

Despite everything, it felt good to be complimented. Yuu hated himself for allowing himself to feel this, but apparently, he couldn’t help it anymore, and he’d just have to deal with it. He scowled at nothing.

“So where didja learn to cook, Yuu?” Lavi asked again, staring deep into Yuu’s eyes.

“My mother,” Yuu grunted, looking away and blushing. Why the hell was he blushing? All Lavi had done was look at him, for God’s sake!

“Wow, she must’ve been one helluva cook!” Lavi exclaimed, and Lenalee laughed.

Lavi and Lenalee chatted pleasantly over their late lunch, and Yuu listened as he ate. Every once in a while, Lavi would incorporate Yuu into the conversation, but he tried to get out of it as quickly as possible.

“Thanks for the soup and company,” Lenalee said, sniffling, as the two of them left.

“No problem,” Lavi said, waving. “I always love the company of a pretty girl!” Yuu’s stomach twinged at that, but he ignored it. Lavi was just being a stupid flirt as always.

“Of course,” Lavi added softly as they walked back to the kitchen to drop off the dishes, “I love sitting down to eat with you.” He walked ahead before Yuu could react. Yuu still wasn’t sure if Lavi was back to normal, but he was acting a lot more like himself than he had been earlier.

The chef was angry at them, but Yuu didn’t care. He felt his afternoon had been well-spent. He had even been nice enough to donate his soup to the black hole of Moyashi’s stomach. Yuu was surprised the boy had been able to expel anything at all, what with how much food he went through. Still, it was miserable to be sick and have to take care of yourself-Yuu knew that feeling intimately-so he would spare a little kindness for the idiot boy.

As they left the cafeteria, Yuu heard the chef berating a boy for having a Koala in the dining hall. He mentioned something about it being a dirty animal, and Yuu was very satisfied when he heard a resounding screech and the screams of pain from the chef as the door shut behind them. His lips did that strange turn-up thing again, and Yuu tried to force it down, but it wouldn’t budge.

Yuu froze mid-step as he felt a hand slide into his, but after a moment, he recovered and kept walking. His stomach made that annoying cramping feeling again. They walked quietly back to the room-well, he walked back quietly; Lavi was chattering the entire way. Yuu took comfort in that. Yes, Lavi was back to normal now. He had a few slips into “Lavi,” but he otherwise seemed to be himself. Or something very, very similar. And Yuu would have to be content with that for now. He tightened his hand around Lavi’s, very glad for the other man’s presence.

As they rounded the corner to the Exorcists’ hallway, Lavi pulled on Yuu’s hand, turning him until they were facing each other. He leaned down-Yuu was still angry that Lavi was taller-and brought his face very close.

“Thanks so much for the soup, Yuu,” he said, “it was delicious.” And then he closed the gap between them in a searing kiss that made Yuu’s knees go weak. Lavi’s other hand went around his waist, pulling him closer, and Yuu responded by taking his free hand and running it through Lavi’s hair. The other man breathed in deeply, and Yuu felt Lavi’s tongue asking for admittance, which he allowed immediately.

Yuu felt a whistle of wind in his ear for a moment, and suddenly his back was against the wall, and Lavi had his wrists pinned. Their tongues twirled together in an intoxicating dance, and Yuu felt his body react rather strongly. One of Lavi’s hands left his wrist and went to his waistline. Yuu gulped and shivered at the touch. It was a good shiver. Lavi pulled his hand back, and Yuu reached out and placed it where it had been a moment before.

“Good,” he said, panting, before he let Lavi continue having his way with his mouth. Lavi seemed to understand, and he began to move his hand under Yuu’s shirt, tentatively running it up toward his chest. Yuu hissed in a breath of pleasure and brought his now free hand to Lavi’s left ear. He had rather enjoyed driving Lavi crazy, and just toying with the earring had the other man gasping.

As Lavi’s hand brushed lightly over a nipple, Yuu gasped. There was a strange squeak from below him, and Yuu froze as Lavi did the same. As one, they looked down. There was a young girl there; Yuu estimated her age to be around eleven or twelve. She was dressed in an Exorcist jacket and a tasteless jean skirt that went far too high to be allowed. Her hair was pulled back in dirty blond pigtails. The hairbands shone in the light-they were simultaneously fluffy and sparkly, and they were a bright, lurid pink. Yuu felt bile threaten to rise in his throat.

“Hmmm…” She said in an annoying, high-pitched voice.

“What?” He asked sharply, glaring down at her.

“I’m just lookin’ for boobs. You’re not very well-endowed, are you?” She asked, staring blatantly at his chest.

Yuu punched her. “We’re both guys, you little fucker!”

“Now, Yuu,” Lavi said cautiously, grabbing Yuu’s fisted hands in his own, “that was rude. Let her be, she’s only a-”

Yuu didn’t find out what she was, because pain shot abruptly through his leg, and he screamed out. He heard footsteps as he fell to the ground, clutching his leg. When he looked up, unintentional tears of pain swimming in his eyes, the girl was gone. Gazing at his pant leg, he found a suspiciously-shaped hole in it. Lavi gasped as Yuu rolled up one of the legs. Yuu’s entire calf was dripping with blood.

“Fuck, I’m going to get rabies,” Yuu hissed, wiping away some of the coppery-smelling liquid.

“Relax, Yuu, I’m sure you’re body can handle a little annoying-girl-poisoning,” Lavi said brightly, though his face was worried.

Looking down at his wound again, Yuu was surprised to note that the sting of bleeding had not diminished. Blood was still waterfalling down his leg, and he hissed as he put pressure on it. “Why hasn’t it started to heal yet?” He bit out.

Lavi clapped his hands together. “Oh, Yuu, speaking of healing, you lost two and a half petals on your lotus flower. I’m sorry, I only just remembered.”

Yuu froze, and his hands dropped from his blood-slicked leg. “Nani?” He asked, too shocked to speak a coherent word in English.

“Yeah. That’s why I actually thought you weren’t there anymore. The doc wouldn’ta had me convinced, ‘cept I was in your room during that session, and he said you were gone just as two petals fell, one after the other. Then, a few hours later, a third petal started to wilt, but it only got halfway.”

Yuu stared at him, completely shocked. Then, standing up-he hissed in pain-he sprinted back to their room, ignoring the limp that got progressively better the longer he ran. By the time he reached the room, the bleeding had stopped, and his leg wasn’t nearly as sore, but he wasn’t paying attention to that. He reached for the hourglass on his bedside table. Sure enough, there were now nine of the fourteen petals on the bottom, and while the flower looked decidedly more wilted, half of another petal was completely shriveled. Yuu recounted the events of the past week. It had to have been when he had broken his spine or when he had been hit with the Akuma spike. And he remembered the doctors saying something about him getting a light concussion when his head hit the ground, but that had been mostly gone by the time he had woken up a few hours later.

Lavi looked at Yuu, mirroring his horror-struck expression. “Why is it losing so many petals?” Yuu asked quietly. “I only got hit by an Akuma spike. Normally, a bullet barely does a thing. I did break my spine, but that should have been nothing…. So why…?” Yuu’s voice drifted off, and he stared desperately at his lotus flower, as if it would give him an answer.

He felt Lavi’s arms encircle him, and despite everything, he felt a bit better for it. “Don’t die, Yuu-chan,” Lavi whispered, and he sounded dangerously close to tears. “I can’t live if you don’t.”

“I’m not going to die, Baka Usagi,” Yuu said loudly, using his usual gruff tone. “I’ve still got four and a half petals left. That’s plenty to get me through the rest of this war. Moyashi will do his stupid hero thing, and then we’ll fight some Akuma, and then it’ll all be over. I’m not going to die from some stupid war like this.”

He only wished he believed himself.

---

They didn’t hold hands, nor did they have their arms around each other, but they walked closely, and no one could deny that they were irrevocably together. Lavi felt the deep, healing connection with the other man, and it pierced him right down to his soul. He wondered vaguely if Yuu felt the same, but from the way the man had almost killed the psychiatrist, Lavi had to come to the conclusion that the Japanese man did. The bond they shared surpassed their minds and spirits-Lavi wondered if that was what it meant to be soul mates. He stopped his thoughts abruptly. What the fuck? What kind of sap was he? Shaking his head, he made an effort to forget the thought and continued walking with Yuu to the Order’s cafeteria.

It was late for dinner, almost ten o’clock, but they had just started to get hungry. Hoping the chef was still there or that they could filch something from the kitchen, they walked onward, passing the few remaining people in the hallways.

As they entered the kitchen, Lavi smelled the strong scents of seasonings cooking and assumed that the kitchen was, indeed, still open. Grabbing Yuu’s wrist, he pulled him over to the service window.

“Sure you don’t want to cook for me, Yuu-chan?” He asked the Japanese man. Yuu’s face remained stony.

“No,” he said curtly, “I do not want to cook for you.”

Lavi had been surprised at how much Yuu seemed to be saying today, but he rather enjoyed it. It seemed the other man had a distinctive personality once Lavi had gotten under all the layers of protection. He wondered what he’d find once he surpassed them all.

“Lavi!” A voice called, and he recognized it at once as Emiko’s.

“Emiko-kun!” He shouted, turning. Emiko and an Indian boy next to her froze.

“How did you-?” The Indian boy started, but he cut himself off when Emiko shot him a sharp look.

“Well, it’s really obvious, innit, Emiko-ku-OW! Yuu, what was that for?” His head pounded. Yuu had whapped him very, very hard.

“Don’t be insulting,” he said coldly. He turned back to the window and ordered his food from the chef, who made it for him with a grudging expression on his face.

“But Yuu!” Lavi protested. “I wasn’t. I mean, Emiko’s Adam’s App-OW!” Lavi felt something sharp rap him on the head. He fell to the ground, and when he looked up, he saw a green-glowing, gray set of nunchucks held in Emiko’s iron grip. She leaned down to him, looked him in the eye, and whispered,

“How did you know?”

“Well, like I was about to say,” Lavi whispered back, “you’ve got a rather prominent Adam’s Apple. And the way you hold yourself, it’s a bit too stocky. Plus, you’re flat, and you have absolutely no curves. It’s not that hard, if you really look. You do look excellent in drag, though, if I do say so myself.”

Emiko looked simultaneously mollified and frustratedly angry. All Lavi could do was chuckle lightly as he ordered his own food. Yuu scowled at him as they sat down with the other two Exorcists.

---

A/N: Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you? :P Also, apologies for the slight OOC-ness of Lavi and Kanda, but, well… Lavi is still a bit insane, though he will gradually return to normal now that Kanda is back. And Kanda-well, he’s still really worried about Lavi, and he’s starting to show a bit of his real self as well. It just goes to show how much he loves (though he still won’t admit it) Lavi that he is willing to open up a bit. Also, Allen and Lenalee somehow got a bit of action! And Allen’s totally beating himself up about it now. It’s actually quite funny. As for the definition of juxtaposition, that totally comes from our number one friend, dictionary.com! :D