1-Beautiful Disgrace Kanda Yuu did not understand why he was the one who was sold.

Kanda did not understand a lot of things, but at the moment, that was what was most prominent in his mind. Why had it been he who was forced to leave? Why did anyone need to be sold in the first place, and why him? Since when were sons sold anyway? Granted, he was the youngest of his three siblings, but still, it was most unusual for a family to sell off their son. He had an older sister, and while he wouldn't wish this on her, he didn't understand how he came to be the one who was sold off. It was all because of his good-for-nothing father, Kanda decided. They were a poor family and even Kanda's mother worked out at the docks with his father. The only one who didn't work was his older sister, because she was now of marrying age, and their parents didn't want her to scar her hands or injure herself working. Kanda's father hoped above all else that she would marry someone rich. Even Kanda worked, though he was only 7 and therefore couldn't do much of the really hard work that brought in the most money. But despite this, Kanda's family was horribly poor, and it was definitely his father's fault. His father, who gambled away in hopes of winning a fortune, rather than saving the little money they made. What the man didn't spend gambling, he spent drinking away his problems. Then he had the gall to blame everyone else; blame his wife for raising lazy children, blame his daughter for not being a lady worth marrying, blame his eldest son for not sending the family enough money, blame Kanda for not being big enough to be of use. Everything was always everyone else's fault, and boy, did he let them know it. And so, deciding that having one son working away from home wasn't enough, Kanda's father sold him to some strange place in Kyoto. Kanda had always wanted to see the ancient capital, but not like this. Kanda's mother begged his father not to sell him, but nothing could stop the man once he'd heard how much his son would be bought for. So after numerous examinations that left Kanda feeling afraid and invaded, money left reluctant hands and was readily taken into his father's greedy ones. A moment later, Kanda was torn from his sobbing mother and thrown into a barred couch. It did not sink in until long after his voice had gone horse from yelling for his mother, until after he had grown too tired to fight against the hands that restrained him, until after he was left with no voice and nothing else to do but sit in the corner of the couch and sob dryly because his tears had dried up, that he had been sold and would never be able to return home. He had seen his mother for the last time, he would never know if his sister ever did get married, and he would never again receive hopeful letters from his loving brother who was working in Tokyo. His only solace was that he would never again have to see his mother be beaten by his father, or be hit himself. 000 Time passed with no measure as the country side gave way to towns and cities, and before Kanda realized it, he was in the city of Kyoto. The road was lined with shops, businesses, homes, and beautiful sweeping trees. For a moment, Kanda managed to forget his circumstances as he admired the passing city. Eventually, the coach pulled to a stop in front of a large building, that Kanda would later find out was an okiya(1). He was roughly pulled out of the carriage and dragged into the okiya. He was too tired to resist anything anymore, but he was also too numb to function, so he just let the men who'd brought him here sit him down and take off his shoes before entering the okiya. As he was brought up into the hall, he passed what had to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. Her long ebony hair was swept up into an intricate bun at the top of her head, with a fringe that framed her thin face perfectly, the lowest layer of her hair hanging down her back. A pale blue kimono made of the finest silk and embroidered with silver was wrapped around the woman, her azure blue obi and eri accentuating her pale features. A charming smile rested on her lips, and as she stopped in the entry way to put on her zori, a servant struck two pieces of flint together over her back for good luck. Once the woman was gone, Kanda shook his head and looked forward again. He was led to a room at the very end of the main hallway, and told to bow at the door. He did as told and a moment later the door was opened, and the scent of smoke hit his nostrils. He was told to enter and kneel, so he quickly came in and sat before a man who was smoking a pipe. Said man looked rather young, and had outlandish straw-colored hair and dark blue eyes. The man was handsome in a sort of exotic way, and Kanda wondered if he was really Japanese, or a foreigner. He was calm and yet seemed very intimidating. "So this is the one you just brought in all the way from the countryside, right?" The man asked, inspecting Kanda with his eyes. The two who escorted him nodded, and were then dismissed. As soon as the two were gone, the man suddenly seemed to become less composed and frightening. Kanda relaxed a bit at this. "Your name is Kanda Yuu, right?" Kanda nodded. "My name is Bak Chan, but you'll be calling me Oto-san. Do you know where you are right now, Kanda-san?" Kanda shook his head no. Bak sighed to this, secretly wishing his little errand boys would inform their charges of what was happening to them. Perhaps they would be less frightened if they knew they were coming to an okiya and not a brothel.

"You're in the Chan okiya, which is located in a special corner of the hanamachi district of Kamishichiken(2). This okiya is not for your typical geisha, however," Bak explained; half of what he said was going right over Kanda's head. Bak paid no mind to Kanda's confusion and just continued on. "This section of Kamishichiken is reserved for patrons with...unique tastes. All the geishas here are males, and you, who have been sold here, will train to become one yourself." Kanda tried hard not to show just how dumbfounded he was. A geisha? Weren't those supposed to be beautiful women? And did that mean the woman he'd seen leaving the okiya was actually a man? Kanda found himself slightly uncomfortable with that thought. "I don't get it," Kanda said honestly. "I can't be a geisha, so why am I here, really?" Bak sighed once again, because he really didn't want to explain this to a child but there seemed to be nothing else he could do. "Your parents sold you to me, because they needed money and I was willing to pay a good price because I need new apprentices. You now have to take on the debt your family created when they sold you to me by working here to earn back the money I paid to get you. You'll also have to pay back the cost of your schooling. This is a male geisha okiya and you will work here, odd idea I know, but get used to it." Kanda's shock was renewed by this information. He couldn't believe it, his parents had really sent him off to become a...a geisha. After this new information had set in, along with the reoccurring fact that he had been sold and his own fatigue, Kanda felt himself black out. 000 "Hey, onii-chan, I think he's waking up now!" Kanda woke up to a soft, dainty voice calling out to an unknown figure. He next noticed a cool weight on his forehead, and realized it was a wet cloth. His eyes slowly cracked open, and he saw a small, round face hovering over his own, wide, violet-colored eyes staring down at him. The girl's lips parted into a smile when she saw his eyelids flutter open, and she sat up straight and motioned for the other person, who was apparently her brother, to come over. "Ah, so he's rejoined the world of the waking, hm?" The man asked, smiling kindly down at Kanda. The man looked slightly familiar, but in his current state Kanda couldn't remember who he was. Slowly, Kanda sat up, as he did he felt small hands on his back helping him. He gave the two strangers inquiring looks, before inspecting the room he was in. The floor was all tatami matting, almost empty except for a few hastily made futons and a dresser. Kanda noted two sliding doors, one which most likely lead to a closet or storage room, and the other to a hallway. Looking to the two people in the room, he saw that the girl was smaller than he was, she was probably a year or two younger too. She had mid-length black hair that was tied up in pig-tails, and was clothed in a simple checkered yukata. Her brother had long black hair similar to her own tied back in a low ponytail, a slim pale face and eyes that were a few shades darker than the girl's. He was also clothed in a light-colored yukata, though it was obviously of a much higher quality. Finally, on the bridge of his nose sat a pair of angular glasses. "Wh-who are you...?" Kanda asked, slightly annoyed with the feeble tone in his voice. The young girl smiled when she heard his voice. "My name is Lee Lenalee, and that's my onii-chan, Komui. What's your name?" "...Kanda...Kanda Yuu, and where am I now?" Kanda realized after he asked that he must still be in the okiya he'd been sold to. He supposed it would be a good idea to learn where in the okiya he was though. "You're in the servant's quarters of the Chan Okiya," the older of the siblings, Komui, answered. "It's rather plain but this is where you'll be staying for the time being, at least until you've finished your shikomi(3) training." Shikomi training? What was that? Was it some kind of training for the job he'd apparently be doing? Kanda's confusion must've shown on his face, for Komui continued on to explain that shikomi was the first level of his training to become a geisha. Kanda would work as a servant in the okiya, and go to school to learn the basics of the geisha arts. Kanda could do that, he was used to doing housework. Apparently, this stage of training would last until he was proficient in the arts, and Kanda secretly wondered if he could keep himself at this level his whole life if he just purposely failed his classes. "So for now you'll be rooming with me, and the other four apprentice geisha living here," Lenalee said, smiling as though this was the best thing that had happened all year. "I hope we can be good friends!" Kanda raised an eyebrow to this, wondering if he really wanted to make any friends at all, but reluctantly answered, "...Friends...sure." 000 A few months of peace and repetitiveness passed for Yuu at the okiya, and he found that Lenalee had indeed become his friend, though he hadn't exactly wanted to make any. Still, being with someone who could get a little annoying occasionally was much better than being alone in this odd place, he decided. Besides, he needed someone to fill the silence with chatter while he worked. There was one other kid too, who was about his age, that was also an apprentice. Daisya was much more lively than Lenalee was, and tended to be much more of a troublemaker too. Unlike Kanda, he was not beautiful in a feminine way, and was really more handsome in a boyish way. Yuu supposed that once the boy's hair grew out that problem could be fixed with enough makeup.

And boy, did geisha wear enough makeup. He had to help Komui with his in the mornings, and even he wore quite a bit of it, though apparently because he was a full-fledged geisha, he was wearing less than Daisya and Kanda would when they became maiko(4). The reason had something to do with natural beauty and some other stuff that Kanda didn't really pay attention to. Today started out like any other day, Kanda woke and changed into his school's uniform yukata, then woke Lenalee and helped her prepare breakfast. He brought breakfast to Oto-san, before leaving with Daisya and the other three apprentices (who didn't have the patience to put up with Kanda's cold attitude) for school. Their first class was dance, which Kanda oddly enough excelled at. He tried not to, really, but he seemed to have a natural grace that made it impossible for him to mess up the steps. Even when he did use extreme amounts of willpower to make himself fall out of line or do something wrong, his teacher either dismissed it because it was such a rare occurrence, or considered his mess-up some feat of genius that had somehow made his dance unique. Oh, how Kanda hated that class. Dance class was only rivaled in hatred by singing class though. Kanda disliked this class for the simple reason that he found it humiliating to sing at all. His voice was nothing special, but he wasn't horrible either, and Kanda was thankful that his skill (or lack thereof) was not pointed out constantly in this class. Oddly enough though, Daisya seemed to do well in this class, though his...unique lyrics and style could've had something to do with it. Kanda decided Daisya was better suited to being a comedian, rather than a geisha. Instrumental classes were the same as dance classes, much to Kanda's chagrin. His original goal had been to completely fail all of his classes, and this should've been the easiest of them to fail, but them his finicky personality came into play. He had never realized it before, when he was living with his family and could never seem to do anything right, but he simply couldn't stand to not do his best, and he couldn't stand not being the best when he could be. So Kanda practiced more than he wanted to or needed to, paid close attention to his sensei's instructions, and excelled in that class as well. Splendid. After lunch Kanda had tea ceremony, ikebana, and calligraphy classes. He somewhat liked calligraphy because he was learning how to write better, which was practical, but the other two classes bored him to no end, though he was apparently a wonderful tea server with a knack for making lovely flower arraignments and had a wonderful aesthetic sense. Kanda wished it were easier to fail. "Really Kanda-san, you could be every sensei's darlin' if you just lost the "I really don't want to be here" attitude," Daisya commented, as they left the school grounds for their okiya. Kanda shot Daisya a withering glare, before sighing out his exhaustion from the day. "I can't act like I want to be here when I don't. I just wish that having a bad attitude was enough to fail..." "Geez, you're at the top of most of your classes and yet ya wanna fail. If it makes you feel any better, you fail at failing, at least. Still, what I wouldn't do for your marks..." Daisya trailed off, imagining a self that could play the shamisen without making even himself cringe at the sound. He had practically been raised in the okiya, so he couldn't really understand what Kanda had against being an apprentice geisha there. Sure, Daisya understood that it hadn't been Kanda's choice to live how he did and would, but he couldn't understand just how Kanda really felt, and therefore would never understand why Kanda couldn't just get over it and live happily. Likewise though, Kanda, who had been forced into this lifestyle, couldn't understand why Daisya liked it so much. He realized that Daisya had been raised to think the okiya was a great and wonderful place and that he had chosen to be there, but he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of being happy and perfectly content with studying to be a professional cross-dresser. Sighing again, this time in a more irate manner, Kanda quickened his pace so that he could reach what he was now slowly accepting as his new home sooner. At first he'd felt alone at the okiya, and he did his best to make himself as isolated as possible. He hadn't wanted anything to do with that world or the people in it, and really he still didn't. But all too quickly, the kind, welcoming atmosphere had corroded away the walls he'd built around himself. Well, at the very least, compared to his old home, this place was warm and more like what a home should've been like. "Okairi, Kanda-kun, Dai-kun!" Lenalee greeted the two of them at the front of the okiya as they stepped into the yard. Daisya waved to her enthusiastically, and Kanda gave something more like a quick flick of the wrist. The two boys quickly changed out of their uniforms and into working clothes, so that they could help Lenalee with whatever chore she was doing at the moment. As it turned out, she was cleaning the floors. So she, Daisya, and Kanda lined up together with their hands pressing wash cloths onto the floor, and ran down the hall in three straight lines in the parody of a race. Kanda won of course, because he had the longest gait and the most leg strength. Cleaning was much easier this way, though they couldn't do such things while working on other chores. After they had circled the okiya's wrap-around porch and lost all of their breath in the process, the three collapsed at a turn, breathing heavily, Lenalee and Daisya laughing while Kanda tried his best not to let a smile escape him.

"Ever the winner, hm Kanda-kun?" Daisya asked, smiling slyly in Kanda's direction. "You couldn't even find it in yerself to be a gentleman and let the lady win. For shame." Daisya shook his head in mock-disappointment, for which Lenalee hit him over the head with a rolled up wash-cloth playfully. "Hey! I'm just makin' a point on your behalf!" Daisya huffed. Lenalee and Kanda both rolled their eyes. "Che, where I come from girls win their own races and don't depend on men to let them. Lenalee will get faster and eventually beat me. Eventually," Kanda stressed, as though he didn't want to be beaten by her too soon. "Hmph, what kinda place did you grow up in? All I can make out about the place is that they don't teach boys to be chivalrous," Daisya said, without any real seriousness. He himself had been raised to always treat a lady with respect, but that was primarily because even their okiya's strange little corner of the hanamachi was controlled by women, and therefore it was an inborn trait in the men to kiss up to them. "What kind of place did you grow up in? The only thing anyone seems to have taught you is to treat women like porcelain instead of like human beings. That and how to cross-dress to impress," Kanda shot back, and Daisya had the grace to look a bit embarrassed about the cross-dressing point. Or maybe the 'treat women like porcelain' point, whichever it was Kanda hardly cared. "Well, for your information, I grew up right here in this okiya," Daisya said with a hint of pride. Lenalee gave Daisya a look that said she'd heard this story a million times, but would stick around to hear it again. Kanda raised an eyebrow, but gave no other indication to the fact that he was somewhat interested in what Daisya had to say. "Yup, I was born and raised in the hanamachi. My birth mother was a geisha in one of the normal okiya whose danna had gotten her pregnant. She died in the birthing process, and the stupid guy didn't want his wife finding out about me. Since no one knew what to do with me, they sent me here. I was raised here by Bak and Komui and Fou! They have been the greatest family I could've hoped for, and I am proud of what they have taught me, and what they have planned for me!" Kanda decided that entire story had led up to Daisya saying he had not been embarrassed about the cross-dressing comment after all. Still, it explained a whole lot, even though it had been a rather simple version of the story. Kanda's mind did not stay on the actual story long though, for a question had formed in his mind. "Who's Fou?" he asked, giving Lenalee and Daisya curious looks. "Fou is Bak-san's assistant," Lenalee said helpfully. "She's very kind, though somewhat..." "Brutish is the word the big Oto-san uses," Daisya finished. "They argue a lot but Bak never gets rid of her. You'd almost think he enjoys getting knocked 'round by 'er. You could say the person who really runs this place is her and not Bak." Lenalee nodded reluctantly, embarrassed on Bak's behalf. "Ah, I think I've seen her around, now that you mention it," Kanda said. "She's the one that keeps him in his office all the time, constantly yelling at him to get his work done and what-not." "Yep, that's Bak's keeper, Fou." "Ahem." The three froze as someone behind them cleared their throat pointedly. Turning slowly, they all cringed at the sight of Bak, standing with his arms folded over his chest, anger clearly displayed on his face. "So you three gossips have time to sit around and chit-chat but you can't find it in you to finish polishing the floors, hm?" Though Bak kept his voice level, his expression was become more and more fearsome. Quickly, the kids scrambled for their cleaning supplies, hoping they would be able to get their things and get away before Bak threw one of his (admittedly comical) fits. Before the three could escape though, a rather loud and feminine yell hit their ears with horrendous volume. "BAKA-BAKU!" Yelled the voice, and the yell was quickly followed by a kick. "HEY! THAT'S BAK-SAMA TO YOU!" Bak yelled back, pointing accusingly at the small woman who'd kicked him. She huffed and smirked at him, giving the kids a sideways glance. "Picking on children when you should be sorting out your bills? At this rate you'll get behind again, Baka-Baku." Bak did a full-body twitch when he heard this, and cursed colorfully as the woman, who Kanda decided must have been Fou, dragged Bak back to his office. "I see..." was all Kanda said, before the three of them decided to get back to work, inwardly laughing all the while. 000 It was getting late, and though the sun had not yet set, it would sink below the horizon soon enough. Lenalee had woken with a fever that day, and thankfully enough it was Kanda and Daisya's day off from school, so they stayed close to her and watched her carefully in Komui's stead. The man had begged shamelessly to be released from his duties until Lenalee got better, or at least until her fever broke, but a sympathetic yet stern Bak told him that it was impossible and that he should just take solace in that fact that she had friends to look after her. So Komui had left for his engagements feeling forlorn, and had promised bloody murder to all if his beloved sister was not taken care of properly. And it was because Lenalee was ill that Kanda was currently outside of the okiya, and outside of the hanamachi as a whole, as a matter of fact. He was given a fairly large amount of money to buy some medicine for the girl who had by now been seen to by a doctor. Said doctor was an old man of small stature, who wore very odd eye

make-up and had bizarre hair. He'd never caught the man's name, and it seemed that everyone just referred to him as Doctor anyway, so he would do the same. That same doctor had told Bak that Lenalee was not simply fevered, and would need some expensive medicine or other that could only be bought at a certain pharmacy outside of the hanamachi. Without thinking, Bak had told Kanda, who was the nearest person at the time, to go and fetch said medicine. So here Kanda was, outside of his area of familiarity, with a rather large amount of money tucked away in his obi. He felt like he was bait for every mugger in the area, and he didn't like it. Not only that, he was just a tad bit lost, for he had never been out of the hanamachi since he came to the okiya. Thankfully it was still light out, and there weren't too many dubious people on the streets yet, but soon, soon they would be out and about. Kanda hoped he'd reach the pharmacy and exchange the money for medicine before then. Hoping to speed up the process of purchasing the precious medicine, Kanda walked up to the nearest wholesome-looking establishment he found, and located the owner. "Excuse me," he said, gaining the kind-looking man's attention. "I'm looking for this place, but I don't really know where to go from here." Kanda held out a scrap of paper that had the pharmacy name on it, and showed the man the name. The elderly man smiled kindly, before informing Kanda that the store he was looking for was just around the next corner. Bowing low in thanks to the man, Kanda left, feeling both embarrassed for having been lost, and relieved that he could finish his chore quickly now. And that he did. Kanda located the store quickly, had shown the clerk the name of the medicine and the note from the Doctor asking for a week's prescription, and left once he had procured the medicine. However, it seemed he had not been quick enough for by the time he had gotten out of the store and down a few streets, the sun had completely set. Kanda did his best to remember how he'd gotten to where he was, but everything looked different in the light of innumerable lamps. Sure, it was plenty bright on the streets, but they looked so strange and menacing, cast in shadows that moved with the wind. Kanda could not manage to find any familiar territory, and this was worrying him. But he was not one to panic in such circumstances, and resolved to do what he had done before, even though most of the places he'd have preferred to go into to ask for directions were closing for the night. He would just have to step into a more risky place was all, he thought simply. Resolute in his decision to get home quickly for Lenalee's sake and for his own, Kanda turned to enter the nearest establishment. Before he could even take a step forward however, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and held him back. "Hey lil' girl, you lost?" Kanda cringed at the way he'd been addressed. It was true that he was a bit thinner than a healthy boy should've been, and his hair did pass his shoulders by an inch or so, but he liked to think that he still looked enough like a boy to be recognized as one when he was seen. Then again, he'd never seen himself from behind as this stranger obviously had, and maybe he didn't want to. It might shatter his illusions about having barely there and discouraged masculine attributes. "Come play with oji-san and I might bring you home." Kanda shivered in disgust, amazed to find that people actually said things like that. Kanda turned and shrugged the man's hand off. "I'm a boy, idiot," was all he said, and his raised middle finger was his little p.s. "Oh, don't be so 'fraid," the man continued on as if he hadn't heard Kanda at all. Now that Kanda was looking at him, it was clear to see he was drunk. Night had only fallen all of ten minutes ago, and this guy had already thrown back enough alcohol to get himself hammered? Kanda decided that this man was quite obviously a slacking drunk who couldn't hold down a job and therefore had far too much time on his hands, which he spent drinking. Kanda hated such people with a passion. Kanda was about to turn back and walk away from the man when he was taken by the wrist in an unexpectedly tight hold, and dragged off. Kanda fought and resisted as much as he could, spouting out a stream of obscenities that he had learned from Fou, whom he found to be wonderful company, if not a bit of a bad influence. "Oi! Let go of me you damned drunk!" He yelled as he tried to pry the man's hand off of his wrist. His efforts doubled as fear began to creep forward and eat away at his anger and indignation. Just as he was starting to get tired from all of his struggling, a third hand, smaller than the man's but larger than Kanda's, grabbed the drunk's own wrist. "Let go of my friend, you creep," a male voice demanded, it sounded young but determined. Kanda's eyes moved up the person's arm to his face. The boy looked to be in his early teens, with hair a shade of orange Kanda didn't believe could occur naturally in any Japanese person. His messy hair covered a good portion of his face, but Kanda could still see little strings going across his forehead and left cheek. The lone eye that could be seen was a vibrant green that swam in the dim lamp lighting of the street. Kanda decided that this kid must be a foreigner. Discouraged by an outsider's interference and that outsider's outlandish appearance, the man soon left Kanda alone with the strange boy. However his wrist was only free for but a moment, before the boy had taken it himself and began leading Kanda in the opposite direction the older man had. At first, Kanda was too stunned to say anything or even resist being led around like this, but soon he found his head again and pulled his hand back. His wrist slid easily from the boy's light grasp.

"Where are you taking me?" Kanda asked, feeling rather shaken and confused at the moment. "Home. You live at the Chan okiya, right?" The boy replied, to which a surprised Kanda nodded. "Then what are you waiting for kid? Ya can't trust anyone else on this street ta bring you there." "Then why should I trust you?" "'Cause I'm going where you're going." Kanda, not sure what to make of this, decided that he would be better off trusting this kid rather than anyone else of the street, and allowed himself to once again be led by the hand. Kanda didn't realize he liked the hanamachi so much until he was back in it again. He knew these streets, and he knew that the flower town he lived in was much safer than the world beyond its borders. Now that he was in familiar territory, he no longer felt the need to stay with the mysterious boy who was leading him along, but decided that he would allow the boy to lead him the rest of the way; He had said they were going to the same place anyway, right? Kanda felt truly at ease only when the two of them reached the front entrance of the Chan okiya. The moment he freed Kanda's hand, the redhead turned to leave. Strange, the boy had said they were going to the same place, hadn't he? Maybe he'd just meant they both belonged to the few male okiyas that were all clumped together in the area? Before Kanda could think about his actions, he reached out and grabbed the strange boy's sleeve. "Ah...Thank you for bringing me back," Kanda said, for his newfound honor would not allow him to let this person walk away without at least thanking him. "I will repay you if the chance ever arises." The redhead looked back at Kanda, with one eyebrow quirked and a little smile on his face. He turned back to face Yuu, and pat his head in a way that Kanda decided was irritatingly patronizing. Still, he said nothing, for he owed this person for saving him from a creep and bringing him home. "How about for now you just tell me your name?" The boy asked, with a bright grin. Kanda obliged and introduced himself with a bow. "Kanda Yuu, hm? I'll be sure to remember that. See you around, Kanda-san." The boy said, and this time Kanda let him walk away. Kanda turned to open the door to the okiya, but it was opened from the inside and revealed Daisya, who all but tackled Kanda to the ground when he saw him. "Thank goodness! Sorry 'bout sendin' ya out alone. Bak forgot that you've never been out of the hanamachi before. We were so worried that you got lost or abducted or worse! Next time you go out, bring someone with you, ok?" Kanda, already used to Daisya's overly energetic and enthusiastic way of doing things, sighed from his position on the ground under his friend and nodded. "I'm alright now, I had some help getting back. You can get off of me now." "Help? Did you get picked up by some perverted oji-san or something?" Daisya asked as he got to his feet and offered Kanda a hand. Kanda took it gave Daisya a look that clearly asked how he knew. "Yeah, but I got away from him. That wasn't the person I got help from anyway," Kanda said when it seemed like Daisya was getting worried. "Some kid who lives in the hanamachi helped me back." "Oh, that's good. That old guy didn't do anything to you before you got away right? It'll lower your worth later on if he did." Daisya asked, still looking very concerned. "No. And what do you mean, lower my worth? What kind of things are you talking about, anyway?" "I dunno and I don't know. But something like that happened to one of the other apprentices once, and that's what Oto-san asked when he heard." "Oh," was all Kanda said, and the two of them finally went inside. It wasn't until Kanda was in the okiya that he realized he'd never bothered to ask the mysterious boy for his name. And it wasn't until he found that same boy in the servant's quarters, sitting right next to the Doctor and speaking with Bak that he realized the redhead might have just become the newest addition to his life. The wide, amused and decidedly annoying grin the boy had welcomed Kanda with made him wonder if he really wanted this addition.

2-Here the Good News "You know, if you were intending to come in, you could've just gone through the front door." The next morning, Lenalee is not so sick. The medicine the Doctor had prescribed was effective, it seemed, and now Lenalee was sleeping peacefully as her tired brother, who had not slept a wink all night even though he would need to rest because he had another full evening of work coming up, held her hand and worried about her in general. "Well, I could've, yeah, but then I wouldn't have gotten to see that cute lil' surprised look you made when you saw me in the servant's quarters." The boy's name was Lavi, Kanda had learned. He was the Doctor's apprentice, and thirteen-years-old, five years older than the now eight-year-old Kanda. Kanda didn't like being so much younger than this boy, because Lavi seemed like the type of person who would hang that over his head. He'd probably say "Respect your elders Kanda-chan!" any time Kanda got angry with him. But if that ever did happen, Kanda would just politely reply that he was simply following Lavi's example; the redhead wasn't exactly the most respectful apprentice himself.

"Geez Lavi, you shoulda said somethin' when you came back! I was worried that Kan-chan had gotten picked up by some strange man on the way home!" Daisya said with a huff. The three boys were all in the room with Lenalee, for it was after school and Daisya and Kanda had finished their chores for the time being. "Eh, sorry Daisya, I woulda if I'd passed you on the way in." "Well if a certain someone had come in through the front door, you could've put my worried heart to rest." "You sound like a mother, Dai-kun." Lavi looked rather amused as Daisya clung to a suddenly stiff and irate Kanda. "I understand your strife now, Komui! It's so hard, worrying after a cute little sister like this!" "Who are you calling a sister?!" Kanda shout-whispered, because he didn't want to wake Lenalee, but at the same time wanted to get his anger across. Lavi stifled his laughter with his hand, more for Lenalee's sake than for Kanda's. Kanda struggled to release himself from Daisya's embrace, but stopped mid-struggle when Komui, who had up until just then been quietly sitting by Lenalee, suddenly leaned forward and started calling his sister's name. "I think she's waking up! Lenalee-chaaaan! Stop worrying your older brother so!" The now-conscious Lenalee's eyes fluttered open, and she gave her brother a small smile. "I'm awake now onii-chan, no need to worry," she said, and brought her little hand out from under her quilt to pat her brother's head. The irony of the younger sibling soothing the older made Komui chuckle. "But of course there was need to worry! You were so sick, how could I not worry?" "Was I really?" Komui nodded quickly. He put his hand over her forehead for a moment, before smoothing back her bangs. The scene inspired a pang of loneliness in Kanda; he remembered the only time he'd been sick like that, when his own older brother had sat by him and didn't move, even when their father yelled at him for not working. He wondered what had happened to his brother, what had really happened. His brother had said he'd gone to work in a textile mill, but now that Yuu had been sold, he wasn't so sure that was the truth. What if his brother was in a place like this? Or worse? Kanda suddenly wanted to write to his brother. He hadn't known how to write before, so he'd just received letters from his brother and had his older sister read them to him, but now he wanted to get back in touch with his brother. It was strange, he'd managed to forget about his family outside of the okiya up until now, but...Well, Komui and Lenalee had this way of reminding him that they still existed. "So how did Lenalee get to be here anyway?" Kanda asked without thinking. "I mean, she can't be an apprentice here...so why is she in the okiya?" Komui was more than happy to rush into an explanation about his dear sister's being in the okiya. Lenalee seemed to shrink into her blankets as he told the story, though one could tell she was embarrassed in a sort of happy way. "Well, our family was a happy one, but our parents were poor," Komui started, sounding a bit far away. "Before Lenalee was born, they got into a bit of debt after they couldn't pay back a loan. My parents were good friends with the Chan family, but they were too proud to just take the Chans' charity. I wanted to help, so I decided to ask if I could come here to work. My parents were a bit hesitant, but they let me. So I came here when I was ten, and my buying price was enough to pay off their debt. "We kept up constant correspondence, because even though they lived just a little ways away from the hanamachi, I wasn't supposed to leave it. Three years later, I got news that I had a little sister, and felt both happy and upset, because I wouldn't get to meet her, I thought." Komui's expression showed just how much the idea had pained him at the time, and how just the thought of that having happened hurt all the more because he knew his sister now. "But then a few years after she was born, our family house burnt down, and Lenalee was the only one to survive the fire. I begged Bak's predecessor to let me bring Lenalee here, so that she wouldn't get sent off to an orphanage. I told them that they could use my excess income to cover her expenses, and they let me get her. She'd been taken in by a neighbor at the time, so I went there to pick her up. I'd never seen her before, but when I met her at the door, I just knew she was my sister, and couldn't stop myself from wanting to take care of her. She is my precious little sister, and that's why she's here." During the story, Lavi's eyes moved from Komui to Kanda. As he watched, he saw pain flicker across the youth's face, coming and going quickly. Lavi was concerned, because though he had not known Kanda for long, the boy seemed too proud to show such emotions. The worst of it was that it looked like Kanda might be getting genuinely upset. He would probably suppress it until he was alone. Lavi didn't like the idea of that, he'd always thought it was pitiful when people felt like they had to cry alone. "Ah, lucky her then..." Kanda murmured offhandedly, keeping a blank face as he did so. Lavi suddenly shot up from his seat, drawing the whole room's attention as he did so. "Ah...Lenalee is awake, but she hasn't had anything to drink in a while. Kanda-chan, come with me to get some water for her," Lavi said, and pulled Yuu from his seat before the boy could protest.

"Why the hell do you need help getting water? Hey! Lavi-san!" Kanda attempted to pull away from Lavi's grasp, but didn't succeed in freeing himself until Lavi had gotten him out of the room. At that point, he decided it would be stupid of him to just go back in, and walked with Lavi. "You didn't look too good back there kid," Lavi said, his worry now clearly displayed on his face. Kanda shot him a glare for suggesting that he had been upset by the topic of conversation, and for calling him kid. "There's nothing wrong with me," Kanda replied, looking to the floor. Lavi scoffed at his denial. "So do you always go around making that "I'm not gonna cry" face, then? 'Cause that's what it looked like to me." Kanda didn't know if he wanted to punch Lavi, or just spill everything to get him off his case. Well, since Lavi seemed the type to annoy him into answering... "I was thinking about the one time I'd gotten that sick. Everyone in my family worked, but that time, my brother stayed home and watched me just as closely as Komui-san was watching Lenalee-chan. Even when our father yelled at him for being lazy, he yelled back "Yuu is more important than your gambling money," and turned his back on father. At first I thought it was strange that father didn't say anything after that, but then he sent onii-san away to work in Tokyo. "I was thinking that I wanted to write to him sometime, now that I can. He used to write to me a lot, and my older sister would read the letters to me. Then I remembered that I wasn't allowed to bring anything here with me, so I don't have any of his letters with me. Without an address, I can't write back... I bet father has burnt them all by now, so I'll never be able to get them back." Lavi hadn't quite expected to get a confession so easily, and honestly, he hadn't been prepared to hear that just yet. He sympathized with the boy and it hurt to think that about how much he must miss his siblings, and hate his father for tearing them all apart. "See? There's nothing wrong with me, I was just a little lost in thought is all," Kanda said, continuing to deny that those memories hurt him. Lavi gave a small smile, and pat the boy's head. Kanda forgot that he was feeling down, in favor of glaring angrily up at Lavi. "Don't treat me like a kid!" He said, feeling patronized. Lavi just chuckled a bit. "I don't think you need to worry about not being able to write to your brother," Lavi said, his tone soothing. "Someone who cared so much about you that they wrote you letters, even knowing you couldn't read them, because he just couldn't stop himself from trying to stay close to you? Of course you don't need to worry. I bet that once he finds out you aren't at home, he'll search for you." Kanda gave Lavi a curious look, wondering why he was saying such things. Still, he couldn't help but childishly cling to the hope that Lavi's words had made in him. His brother was the kind of person who would do that, Yuu knew. Perhaps, one day, he would once again get a letter from his brother? "But if he does find you," Lavi continued on. "You don't want to have to tell him that you're working as a maid at an okiya, right? You want to be able to tell him you've made yourself something to be proud of, right? So, you'll just have to work hard to become the best geisha you can possibly be, because that is the only thing you can do now. Even if you don't want to be a geisha, at least you can be proud of yourself if you're the best. I'm sure your brother would feel proud knowing that you were making the best of your situation, too." Kanda had never thought of it that way. He'd had it in his mind from the moment that he'd learned what he was to become that being a geisha would be a disgrace unto himself, that it would be impossible to live proudly while masquerading in women's clothes and entertaining mostly male costumers. But Lavi made a point, it was the only choice he had now, so he should just make the best of it and try his hardest, instead of trying to do his worst. If nothing else, he could be proud of his hard work. That was when Kanda resolved to become the best. 000 Lavi knew relatively little about his origins. He was fairly certain he was of mixed heritage, because of his hair and eye color, but he couldn't know for sure. When he was three, he had been abandoned by his parents. He did not remember their faces, his real birthday, or where he had been born, the only thing he'd known at the time was his name. Luckily for him, he'd been found by the Doctor only a few weeks after he'd been left behind. The old man had felt some pity for the poor boy, and decided that since he was getting on in years, it was about time he got an apprentice. Without even bothering to ask, he told Lavi he was to learn medicine. Lavi had been so desperate at the time, that even if the Doctor had asked, he would've said yes. The two of them lived in a house behind the Chan okiya. Lavi, being the sociable person he found himself to be, had immediately befriended the Chan's residents. Whenever he wasn't training to become a doctor, he was at the okiya, and if he wasn't at the okiya, then he was most likely in his yard, looking over the hedges into the okiya's backyard. That's what he had been doing when he'd first seen Kanda Yuu. One day the mysterious boy had wandered out into the yard while Lavi had been staring over the hedges. Lavi had never seen him before, and concluded that he was new to the okiya. He had a potent aura of loss and loneliness about him, one which had captivated Lavi immediately. Lavi found himself watching the stranger out

in the yard on an almost nightly basis after that. It was accidental at first, the kid just happened to go out at the same time Lavi usually started his bored watching, but soon Lavi realized he was specifically waiting to see the boy just sitting in the okiya's back yard, bathed in moonlight. At first Lavi was rather taken aback by this, and decided that he was spending far too much time around male cross-dressers if he was starting to think of boys in such a way. He also couldn't help but laugh at himself for being so hung up over a person whose name he didn't even know, and who had to be younger than him by at least five years. The fact that Lavi had yet to meet this boy also reminded him of just how long it had been since he'd paid the Chan okiya a real visit. It was by chance that Lavi had spotted Kanda on the way home that night. He'd been on an errand for the Doctor, and on his way back had noticed the boy struggling with the older man. At first, he was just going to turn a blind eye to it, but then he realized just who that boy was, and couldn't help but interfere. Lavi's act had been rewarded with the boy's name, and that was all Lavi had needed to leave satisfied. "You should've come through the front door," Bookman said as he entered the servants quarters through the window. "But it'll be more fun this way," Lavi said, which mildly confused the Doctor, until he saw Kanda come in and stare at Lavi in surprise a few minutes later. After spending some time with Kanda, Lavi learned that he wasn't anything like he thought the boy would be, and was all the more attracted to him because of it. The petulance and strained politeness were positively endearing. That was why when Kanda had looked so upset, he couldn't help but notice and try to cheer the kid up. But he regretted telling Kanda to become the best geisha he could, because if Kanda really did become a geisha then he would be completely out of Lavi's reach. 000 The entire okiya was in a state of excitement, and Kanda had no idea as to why. While it had been something close to a year and a half since he'd come to the okiya, he was still in the dark about anything that wasn't commonly talked about. Whatever was happening now was obviously not something that happened often, or popped up in a conversation normally either. So Kanda continued to do his chores and practice, wondering all the while why everyone was being so particular and fussy about cleaning and the appearance of the okiya. It was starting to grate on his nerves, really. "So what's going on around here anyway?" Kanda finally asked Daisya one day, while the two of them and Lavi (who'd started making weekly appearances at the okiya) sat on the wrap-around porch. Daisya and Kanda had just finished cleaning when Lavi had wandered into the okiya's yard and had spotted them. Daisya looked horrified to know that Kanda was clueless as to what was happening. His expression made it seem like Kanda should've been born knowing what was happening, and for a moment Kanda wondered if he really was asking a foolish question. However, Lavi's expression of mild surprise reminded him that Daisya tended to over-do it with facial expressions. "Komui's got himself a potential danna. The guy propositioned him about a week ago, and since then everyone's been preparing for the ceremony that'll tie them together. He'll be coming here tomorrow!" Daisya explained, looking excited. "Apparently, the guy is involved with the weapons trade in the military, so he's dirty stinkin' rich. A real charmer from what I've heard, too. Komui's current "little sister" is always talking about how much of a flirt the guy is, though he focuses most of his attention on Komui these days. Our resident geisha is quite smitten, it would seem." Kanda was confused by the first sentence alone. Danna? What was that? Komui getting one must've been an important thing, otherwise everyone wouldn't be making such a fuss. It probably had to do with the guy being rich too, and from the way Daisya was talking about their personal relations, it almost sounded like Komui was getting married. "That's all well and good, but what's a danna?" One again, Daisya's expression made Kanda wonder if he was asking a stupid question. The boy sighed and shook his head in an exasperated manner that made Kanda twitch with annoyance. "A danna is a geisha's patron. He pays off her, or in our case his, debts and covers his daily expenses. In return, he gets a relationship that's sort of more personal than your average costumer. It's sort of like getting married, but not really." Ah, so Komui was getting sort-of-but-not-really-married. Interesting. Now that Kanda thought about it, hadn't Daisya said he was the result of his mother's relationship with her danna? Kanda wondered just what Komui was getting himself into. "So...it's a really big deal then for a geisha to get a danna?" Kanda asked, though it was more of a statement. "Indeed! After this, Komui will probably have enough money to be able to move out of the okiya, if he wanted to." The three boys knew that Komui wouldn't leave though, because Lenalee liked it here, and Lenalee's opinion won out over everything. "So what's the guy's name, anyway? I might know him," Lavi said, tearing his gaze away from this one particularly fascinating spot in the backyard. Lavi had been a bit out of it all day, he kept just staring into space with a distant look. And when he wasn't staring into space, he was staring at Kanda, which sort of unnerved the

boy because he had no idea why Lavi was staring at him, and Lavi himself seemed to be unaware of what he was doing. "I think his name is Cross...something or other, I forget, he's got a foreign name. And why would you and the good doctor know him?" Daisya asked, looking past Kanda to see Lavi. "Hey, the old man and I treat patients outside of the hanamachi, ya know, it's totally possible for us to have met. In any case, I don't know him, I don't think the old panda's ever seen to any foreigners since he took me as an apprentice." "See, you didn't know him," Daisya teased and stuck out his tongue. "That doesn't mean I couldn't have!" Lavi shot back with a pout. "You two are so childish," Kanda said with a sigh, before lying back on the polished wood porch. Both Lavi and Daisya looked down at him with mock-offended looks. "Who are you callin' childish? I'm a whole 5 years older than you!" Lavi huffed, grabbing Kanda's cheek and pulling it. Kanda knocked Lavi's hand away with a scowl and rubbed his smarting cheek. "Your age has nothing to do with how you act, and I say you act childish," Kanda said, glowering in Lavi's direction. Lavi gave a strange, unreadable smile, and just said, "Well, if you say so." 000 After two years of strict schooling, Kanda and Daisya were allowed to graduate after taking an extremely difficult dance test. Now, the two of them were Minarai(1) together, and were soon bound to Komui as his "little brothers" (though Daisya insisted that Kanda was obviously a little sister). The day after the ceremony, both of them were brought to a hair stylist whom they unanimously decided was hell-bent on torturing them and turning them bald. Daisya left in (overly-dramatic) tears while Kanda barely managed to put up with the pain. Even worse than having his hair waxed and styled, Kanda thought, was learning how to apply make-up. This killed his last shred of masculine pride faster than he could've thought possible. Being all but forced into the restricting, overly-ornate, positively elaborate kimono was enough to bring his pride back from the afterlife and kill it again. Kanda couldn't stand to even sit in front of the full-length mirror that hung in Komui's room. Daisya, on the other hand, was taking this all in stride, he seemed positively euphoric to finally be allowed to go to teahouses, though apparently neither of them would be entertaining for about a month. "Lookin' good you two," Lavi (who'd been watching since they started on their make-up) said with a low whistle. Kanda cringed at the openly admiring look. Even Kanda had to admit, as he was forced to walk to the mirror by Daisya and Komui (who was in the throws of pride over his little brothers' debut), that if it were not himself whom he was looking at, he would've thought the person reflected in the glass was beautiful. However, he knew what he was looking at, and therefore he was rather repulsed and indefinitely humiliated. The crimson silk kimono with its golden obi and embroidered maple leaves did look stunning though. It felt heavy on him and the obi was tied just a tad too tight, but Kanda was pretty sure that was done purposefully, and that he'd just have to get used to it. Daisya looked almost swamped in his plum-colored kimono, that was embroidered with silver bellflowers, and tied with a green obi. He looked about as suffocated as Kanda was, but seemed to handle it much better. (2) "I hate you," Kanda said, though at the moment, that statement could've been directed at the whole world. "Ya really do look gorgeous though," Lavi said, with honest sincerity. While he was talking to both Minarai, Lavi was definitely looking at Kanda while he said this. Daisya, ever-observant, noticed this and smirked deviously. He walked over to Kanda and hugged his arm, sticking his tongue out at Lavi. "Don't fall in love now Lavi, you can look but you better not touch!" Kanda looked down at Daisya, aghast and embarrassed, and very thankful that his blush couldn't be seen through his heavy white make-up. Just what was Daisya saying, anyway? Obviously, Lavi was just paying them a friendly compliment. "Ok! Enough idle chatter and admiration! We've got an appointment to keep you two!" Komui, who'd been quietly observing the three, spoke up after checking the clock. They said their goodbyes and headed out for their first appointment. 000 Kanda was starting to feel a tad bit unmotivated, after three years at the okiya. He was starting to forget why it was he'd been working so hard in the first place. Well, he still knew the reason, but now he was wondering why he'd ever thought that something like that would be possible. The only way his older brother would know a thing about what had happened to him or where he lived would be if someone from his family told him. Kanda doubted his father would let that happen. So, Kanda, feeling discouraged, decided it was time to pay Lavi a visit. After all, it was Lavi who'd originally made him want to work harder, and Kanda had found that it was quite easy to talk to Lavi about such things, he was a very sympathetic listener. However, Kanda had never actually gone to Lavi's house before. It wasn't that the residents of the okiya weren't allowed to, Daisya and the other apprentice geisha did all the time, when Lavi couldn't come to the okiya. Kanda just sort of felt embarrassed when he thought of going over there on his own, so he never did it. But now he was going to, because he wanted to and had a right to and dammit, why was it taking so long to gather his resolve?

"Uh...Kanda-chan, is there a reason you're glarin' into my yard?" Lavi's questioning voice snapped Kanda out of his revelry, and he realized that he had indeed been staring into his neighbor's yard. Embarrassment tinged his face pink, and he lowered his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look Lavi in the face. Lavi wondered if Kanda realized how demure he was making himself look, or if by this point in his training it was a reflex of his. "I was going to ask if I could come over for a bit," Kanda said, his voice unwavering, for his pride wouldn't let it. Lavi blinked in surprise, before saying yes and excitedly helping his friend over the fence that separated the two properties. "Well, this is unexpected. Ya never wanted to come over before," Lavi said, more than happy to have this person who interested him so in his home. Even if technically, they were outside on the porch, and not actually in his home. Kanda seemed embarrassed enough just being there, Lavi wasn't about to shove him inside if he didn't want to be there. For a while, Kanda did not respond to Lavi's statement, instead he tried to distract himself from his embarrassment by questioning Lavi's enthused state. It surely couldn't mean that much to the older boy to have him here. "I was just... wondering about some things lately," Kanda said, trying to make it seem as though he hadn't really cared to come here. Why was he so flustered over such a little thing anyway? "Really? What kind of things?" Lavi asked, looking curious. At first, it didn't seem like Kanda was actually going to say anything, he just silently stared into his lap. "Way back when we first met, you told me to work hard so that I could be proud of what I had to do, so that if my brother ever found me, I wouldn't have to be ashamed of myself. But it's been three years since I've come here. At this point, it doesn't seem like he'll ever find me, if he's even looking for a brother who got sold off." "You can't think that way, because that'll just make it seem hopeless," Lavi scolded, surprised and a little disappointed with Kanda's negative thinking. "Besides, even if he never finds you, you should still do your best for your own sake." "How would it be for my sake? I never wanted to succeed in this business!" Kanda said, looking angry. "Then succeed for my sake," Lavi said with an uncharacteristically serious tone of voice. Kanda looked at him, confused. Lavi was looking straight ahead, but Kanda could see enough of his face to know his expression was serious. "Your sake?" "My sake," Lavi repeated, concentrating on some point straight ahead of him. "By the time you become a fullfledged geiko, I'll probably be a doctor, and I'll be makin' all the money the ol' panda does now. When you're an established geisha, I'll become your danna. Can't do that if you aren't a geisha though, so keep workin' at it." Kanda was completely bowled over by that statement. Where had that come from? Lavi was his friend, why did he need to become his patron in order to have a personal relationship with him? Or was being friends not personal enough? But still, his danna? He was only ten, and Lavi was already talking of such things! Granted, in five or six years, he would no longer be ten, but what made Lavi so sure he'd want anything to do with Kanda then? "Do you have any idea what you're saying?" Kanda asked, sounding like he had resigned himself to his confusion. "Of course. You might be dense as lead, but if I say it that way then even you can understand what I mean, right?" Kanda felt his face heating up as he understood. He couldn't imagine what Lavi saw in him, but he must've done something amazing to have caught this person's attention. Kanda sat, wallowing in his own embarrassment, when Lavi spoke up again to break the silence. "Hey, can I call ya Yuu-chan from now on?" He asked, his voice back to normal, as if their last exchange hadn't happened at all. Kanda's face got impossibly redder with what was now an indignant flush. "No you may not! I'd skin anyone who dared call me that!" Lavi chuckled. "How cute! Yuu-chan's such a cute name, I think I will call ya that from now on!" "You're asking for it, baka-usagi." "So I've got a nickname now? I'm flattered!" "..." 000 Three years later, Kanda had still not managed to stop Lavi from calling him Yuu-chan. At this point, Kanda wasn't really trying to stop him either, he would just tell the redhead not to call him that out of habit. Lavi seemed to realize this, and said his name all the more because of it. Sometimes Lavi wondered if Yuu would realize he was even calling out to him, if Lavi decided to address him as Kanda again. Now that Kanda was in his fourth year of his Maiko training, he didn't have to wear such heavy make-up, though his white base was still fairly thick. His kimono were still quite ornate, though not nearly as decorative as they had been when he had debuted. Kanda had given up on being found, and now he work hard solely for himself. Or at least, that's what he wanted everyone to think. Lavi knew the truth though, he knew that Kanda, now thirteen and no longer a little child (though he was indeed still a child), was working towards him. Kanda didn't

even know why he was, perhaps he just liked the thought of having a danna he knew well, rather than some random old man he met at a teahouse? Maybe it was just because of who Lavi was? Either way, the words Lavi had said to him when he was a hopeless child had been what carried him through the years. "Kanda-kun." Fou walked into his and Daisya's new, shared room. They were nearly full-fledged geisha, so they obviously couldn't sleep in the servant's quarters anymore. "Bak wants you in his office, now," the petite woman said, her expression solemn. Kanda followed her to Bak's quarters and prepared for the worst. "You received a few things in the mail," Bak said, once Fou had left the room. He brought out two boxes of medium size and placed them on the low table in the center of the room. Curiously, Kanda opened the smaller of the two. His heart sank when he saw a memorial tablet and a letter inside the box. He didn't read the tablet, too afraid of finding out who had died. Instead, he took the letter out, and read it first. The letter had been written by his mother, and Kanda sighed in relief knowing that she had not been the one to die. That still left three more family members though, so Kanda continued reading it. The letter spoke of how his father had fallen ill about a year ago, and had died just a month afterwards. Kanda looked over to the memorial tablet after reading that, just to be sure it said the right name. Sure enough, it was his father's name on the stone. He continued reading with mixed feelings about his father's passing. His sister had gotten married two months ago, to a middle-class man who had graciously allowed his mother to move into his family's house. Apparently, father hadn't approved of the marriage while he was alive, but the two had intended to marry with or without his consent. Mother sung his brother-in-law's praises. By the end of the letter, Kanda's feelings had still not sorted themselves out. Should he be happy or sad? After all, his father had sold him, chased out his brother, and had made his entire family's life a living hell. Still, he was Kanda's father, and if he hadn't sold Kanda, then Yuu would've had to live struggling for the necessities. Kanda was well provided for in the okiya, and lived in a warm environment with friends that were nearly like family now. In a way, his father had given him a better life. In the end, Kanda decided it would only be proper to mourn. Still, mourning or not, Kanda simply couldn't overlook the second package that had been sent to him. This box was a bit bigger than the first, though it was a tad lighter. He opened it and his eyes lit up with excitement and childish happiness. The box was filled to the brim with every letter his brother had ever sent him, including the letters that had never reached him. Letters that asked about him, his well-being, where Yuu was living now if he wasn't at home anymore. Letters that asked for his new address over and over again until he'd finally gotten it. The most recent letter from him expressed thanks, and it was only dated for a month ago. His brother had only just found him, but at least he had. Well, mourning be damned, at least for the moment, Kanda was positively ecstatic. Kanda didn't question the fact that his first thought after discovering this was that he had to tell Lavi. Lavi had been the one who'd first made him even think that this day would come, of course he should be told about it. So Kanda thanked Bak profusely for giving the packages to him, and left the room with them, quickly stashing them in his own room before going over to Lavi's house. Kanda didn't bother knocking at the door before entering-it'd been roughly two years since he'd picked up the habit of just barging in. Lavi had been sitting in the tea room, sipping tea that he promptly choked on when Kanda came in, looking for all the world like an excited puppy. Lavi was sure he'd never see this side of Kanda again, for he'd certainly never seen it before. Lavi was sure that Kanda must've given half of the okiya's residents quite the shock with that beautiful smile of his. "I got them back!" Kanda exclaimed, coming to the table and smoothing over his kimono as he sat down properly, despite the informal setting and his less-than-formal entrance. By now, the general behavior of a geisha was so ingrained in him that he did it without thinking. Lavi's choked coughs came to a sputtering halt as he regained control of himself. "Got what back?" He asked, while trying to memorize every aspect of Kanda's smiling face. He was so sure he'd never see this again. "The letters my brother sent me! My father died, and since he'd been the one who wouldn't let them send them to me, they finally could. He knows where I am now and plans to drop by next chance he gets. Finally, it only took six years!" Lavi was unsure of what he was feeling at the moment. Of course, he should've been happy for Kanda, and he was, he was. At the same time though, he was jealous, undeniably jealous. With all of two packages and ten minutes, Kanda's family had managed to do what he'd been trying to do for 5 years: Make Yuu smile, really smile. As Kanda continued to tell him about the letters he'd skimmed through, about what had happened to his family and about his brother's plans, Lavi realized that if Kanda's older brother really did come to the okiya, it wouldn't just be for a visit. No, this man would take Kanda away, and Yuu, who had never wanted this life to begin with and was just living the life he was given to the best of his abilities, would go with him without a second thought, Lavi was sure. Lavi wanted to do something, anything really, that would make himself feel closer to Yuu, because at the moment, he felt that the younger boy was quickly slipping through his fingers. So, deciding that he should do

something before he lost his chance to and regretted it, Lavi leaned over the table, grabbed Kanda's shoulders and kissed him mid-story without any warning. When Kanda made no move to back away or respond, Lavi decided to just indulge himself a bit until Kanda realized what was happening and killed him. Lavi licked the boy's lower lip, which elicited a gasp, and eventually, a shy bit of play from Kanda's side. When the need for air became too great to deny, Lavi moved away from Kanda. The boy's face was redder than the crimson kimonos Komui just loved to doll him up in. Kanda's hands came up to cover his colored face, though he chanced a look or two at Lavi through his fingers. Lavi, unsure of whether this was a good or bad reaction (for most people it would probably be pretty good, but this was Kanda he was dealing with), gave Kanda a questioning look. "Uh...Yuu? Ya gonna be all right there?" Kanda nodded, stilled his head, and then shook it, not sure which answer was right. "...Ask," Kanda mumbled finally, and once again Lavi gave him an inquisitive look. "Next time...ask first," Kanda clarified, and Lavi grinned wider than he ever had before.

3-Make Up Your Mind Kanda had to admit that even though it had been unexpected, and he'd been all but frozen for half of it, he had indeed enjoyed that kiss. He hadn't expected it in the least, and felt that Lavi could've waited until he was finished talking at the least (it was so rude of him to interrupt), but damn it all if he hadn't wished he didn't need to breathe when it was over. After that, every other question out of Lavi's mouth seemed to be "Can I kiss you?"More often than not, Lavi didn't even wait for an answer to that question either, so it was more of a warning, rather than Lavi asking for permission. Kanda never failed to point out that the idea behind asking was to wait for an answer. However, now that Lavi was old enough to work side-by-side with the Doctor, and not just as an apprentice, he seemed much busier than he had been before. Not only that, but Kanda's career was flourishing as well. He and Daisya were quite popular for maiko, and were being brought to more and more gatherings. Komui said that the reason everyone liked them so much is because they worked together like hot and cool spices did to balance each other out. Kanda was a very ill-tempered person, but he couldn't take his anger out on his patrons, so instead he spoke sarcasm as a second language and always just said whatever came to mind in a falsely sweet voice, no matter how rude it was. That was a heck of a lot better than him losing his cool and exploding at everyone who annoyed him. Daisya however, had a wonderful temperament and was very personable, so any time Kanda said something a little too offensive, Daisya came in and turned it into a joke. He also diffused the situation any time someone said something a bit too offensive or forward to Kanda, which was definitely the reason why Kanda had not killed anyone yet with his kanzashi. Kanda was starting to notice that he was getting more admiring stares as time wore on. He also noticed that he saw the people who looked at him that way quite often. One person that he saw perhaps weekly was a foreigner who worked with Komui's danna, Cross. Marian-san really was an insatiable flirt, but all it took was one welltimed, neglected-sounding sigh from Komui, and Cross was lavishing all of his attention on Komui, who usually tended to look much like a pampered cat afterwards. Compared to his business associate and friend Cross, Tyki Mikk was quite the gentleman. At least, he was in his actions. It had been a little over a year since he had first met this particular regular of his, and not a week had passed where he hadn't seen the Portuguese man in some tea house or other. At this point, he knew the man well enough to know that Tyki too spoke in sarcasm (very well concealed sarcasm, but sarcasm none the less), and that he liked to slip a few risqu comments into a conversation whenever he knew he could get away with it. And then sometimes he would just whisper them to Kanda when no one was paying attention. Kanda supposed the man was better company than most, but he did so hate it when Tyki did that. "Gonna see yer danna and his friends again today, hm, Komui?" Daisya teased, nudging his elder with his elbow. Komui hardly bothered with makeup at this point (he really had no need for it anyway), so his blush was clearly seen by his little brothers. Daisya snickered teasingly, and Kanda just rolled his eyes. "If you like the man so much, why don't you just go live with him? He's offered, hasn't he?" Kanda asked, though he already knew the answer. "Lenalee likes the okiya, there is no way I would take her away from there, or let her stay there with all of you hormonal teenage boys without my supervision!" Komui said, giving Kanda a suspicious glare. Kanda was halftempted to say that if Komui had to be suspicious of anyone at the okiya, it would have to be either Daisya or Bak... Fou didn't appreciate Bak's pedophile-like behavior one bit, it got in the way of his work. Daisya was definitely more of a threat to her purity than anyone else was really, Kanda had noticed that the older boy had stopped treating her as a little sister some time ago. "Well, anyway, along with Cross comes that big guy, Marie, and that fellow Tyki who's got his eye on our dear Kan-chan, right?" Daisya's teasing glance was redirected at Kanda, who wasn't the least bit ruffled by it. "What makes you say Tyki-kun has his eye on our imouto-chan?" Komui asked, looking questioning. There was something behind the questioning look though, it seemed like he was trying to hide what he knew.

Being called "little sister" still made Kanda twitch, even after all these years. "Well, you've been off on planet Marian or something, so obviously you didn't pick up on it, but I've seen all the looks and those times he whispers to Kanda secretly! Whispering sweet nothings in your ear, is he?" Daisya asked, with a smirk. Komui chuckled behind his hand. Kanda gagged a little and was about to tell them that the only things Tyki ever whispered about were perverse things, but then thought better of it and just denied him saying anything of the romantic nature. "Ah, well, in any case...we'll see how long that lasts," Komui said, suddenly it seemed as though he knew a lot more about what was going on than he had let on at first. 000 Kanda's face was still cooling off as he and the others walked home from their appointments that night. Daisya and Komui had taken every opportunity afforded to them to point out the fact that there was an absolutely stunning new pink pearl lotus-design comb in his hair. A new comb given to him and placed in his hair by Tyki. Well, Komui had been right about the whole "no romantic talk" thing not lasting long, Kanda had just wished that Komui had given him a less vague warning about what had happened that evening. It wasn't as though Kanda had never received a gift before; on the contrary, it wasn't all that unusual for him to get them at all. He had a lot of regulars, they liked to spoil him, and he wasn't going to complain. Still, something about Tyki giving him one made him nervous, and he had no idea why. It wasn't that nervous, butterfly feeling Kanda got from Lavi though, it was just plain nervous, nervous and very curious as to why Tyki had chosen to single him out. There were kinder, prettier geisha out there, he was sure. Nicer ones, at the very least. Once the trio was about 50 meters away from the okiya's front gate, they met up with Lavi and the Doctor, who were also on their way home from a house call. Both looked rather tired, but the Doctor knew that Lavi would probably go back to the okiya to talk with everyone for a bit, and so dismissed himself from the group when he came to the turn that would lead to the house behind the okiya. When the four reached Kanda and Daisya's room, they sat down and helped each other get out of their heavy kimonos, and take down their hair as painlessly as possible. Because they were not traditional female geisha, the Chan okiya's geisha tended to cut corners on other things too, such as wearing the traditional hairstyles in favor of wearing more comfortable styles, but it still hurt to have one's hair wound up and pinned to one's head all day. The new ornament was the first thing to leave Kanda's hair, and though he treated it carefully (because, after all, Tyki had gone out of his way to buy it), it was still quite clear that he wanted it away from his persons. Komui frowned at this, as Daisya huffed. "Geez Kan-chan, you act like the thing is burning you," Daisya said, giving Kanda a look that clearly said the boy should be more grateful. "You guys have been talking about that comb this whole time," Lavi said before Kanda could respond to Daisya's comment, "what's so special about it? I mean, sure it's pretty, but so is everything else that gets piled onto all of your heads." "That was a gift Kanda-chan just got from one of his regulars today. Really, he should appreciate the thought put into a gift given to him by a loyal patron," Komui chastised. Lavi sharply looked at Kanda, and then the hair ornament that was on his bureau. His look turned questioning when he looked back to Kanda. He knew this wasn't the first thing he'd gotten from someone, gifts came with the job. So what was so different about it this time? Kanda looked away from the room, an annoyed scowl on his pretty face. He turned to the mirror and started removing his makeup, which was almost as much of a chore as putting it on. "It's just...awkward, to get a gift from him," Kanda said. He couldn't really put a finger on what it was that was bugging him, but that came pretty close to it, he was sure. He appreciated the gesture, just as he would've if anyone else had given it to him, but for some reason accepting it felt...wrong. Curious. No one noticed the suspicious look that came to Lavi's eyes, or the jealousy that spread through his being like wildfire. 000 Just a little before Kanda turned 15, he received a letter from his older brother that said he would be near the Kamishichiken district on a business trip. Apparently, his brother had gotten promoted to an executive position, and was now free to move around the country as long as it was for business purposes. He happened to be traveling to Kyoto, and was determined to see his little brother. This was not the first letter Kanda had gotten from his brother since he'd gotten that package of letters two years prior, indeed they had started up a regular correspondence, but this was the first one that held such exciting news in it. Kanda was walking on air for the next week, and then as the day when his onii-san would arrive came closer, he began to get excited and nervous. Kanda had worked hard, hoping that this day would come, but now that it was here, he wondered if he would really be able to stand proudly before his own flesh and blood as a geisha.

Lavi sat in the corner of Kanda's room, reading over the letter that had been shoved in his face the moment he had asked why Kanda had spent the last three days meticulously cleaning his and Daisya's room. Kanda occupied himself with scrubbing every last remnant of dried makeup off of his bureau. "Ah, I get it, you're cleaning like a madman because you're so nervous. If you really need to constantly be doing something, I'm right here you know," Lavi said lasciviously. Kanda blushed a bright red and scrubbed at his bureau that much harder. "Jerk, now is hardly the time to be saying such things. If you're feeling bored watching me clean, then get off your ass and help," Kanda huffed out, throwing a random bundle of cloth at Lavi's face. It hit its mark, and Lavi pulled it off with a hint of annoyance. "That was wholly unnecessary, Yuu-chan," Lavi said, getting up and standing behind Yuu. He unrolled the cloth (it was a sash) and tied it loosely around Kanda's eyes. Behind the blind, Kanda rolled his eyes. "I know it's you, stupid." "I know, but there's just somethin' 'bout you being blindfolded that makes it all that much more exciting, ya know?" Kanda's cheeks turned a pale pink as he felt his face being tipped up. Before Lavi could kiss him however, Kanda heard footsteps, followed almost immediately by someone entering the room. Kanda reflexively looked toward the door, realized he couldn't see, and pulled down the blindfold. At the door, Daisya stood, looking very surprised. There was a second of awkward silence where the three boys just stared at each other, which was broken when Daisya let out a low whistle. "That was an interesting scene right there..." He said, still sounding quite surprised. "Not to say I hadn't guessed things were that way between you two but... Just don't do anything in our shared room Kan-chan, ok? Ya should probably keep it out of the okiya all together, 'cause if anyone other than myself and maybe Komui had walked in, you'd get dragged out of this room and whipped so fast you wouldn't have time to blink." Daisya was usually a rather carefree person, but when it came to anything that could hurt the okiya's good name, he tended to get very serious. His words were like a bucket of cold water to Kanda. Daisya was right, a geisha's good name was not taken lightly, and if Bak were to ever find out that he was doing anything that could possibly lower his worth, Kanda would be severely punished. Geisha did not enter personal relationships on a whim the way Kanda had, he would definitely need to be more careful from here on out. Kanda looked away from Daisya and to the floor. Lavi did the opposite and looked to the ceiling, sighing and berating himself for almost getting Kanda into trouble. "Ok then, in any case, Kanda, Bak wants to see us about something," Daisya said, trying not to sound too serious. Kanda jolted, and for a minute he worried that he and Lavi had already been discovered. But Kanda hadn't done anything beyond kiss the older boy, so there couldn't be much of a problem, right? Then again, that was all it took to create malicious rumors, wasn't it? Kanda tried to stop himself from feeling like he was going to his death as he walked out of the room. However, when the door is closed, he finds that they are not actually going to see Bak, which instantly relieves Kanda. It is apparent though, that Daisya has brought Kanda out into the hall to talk about what just happened. The two walked slowly through the empty hall, speaking in hushed voices. "I'm sorry that I sounded so mean in there Kanda, but... ya know it's true. You're my little brother here, I just don't want you to lose face over a fling, or anything that isn't worth the risk. I personally think it's great the ya like someone, and I won't tell a soul, but you're a really popular geisha, and your competition would jump at the chance to drag your name through the mud." Kanda knew that Daisya was just looking out for him, and that just made him feel guilty for putting the older boy in such an awkward position. He stared at the ground and mumbled an apology. Daisya's comment made him think though; this had been happening for two years now, there was no way that he and Lavi were just having a "fling," but they had never bothered to classify just what it was they were. Not lovers, really, they'd never done anything that would classify them as such. Friends-with-benefits sounded much too frivolous, a geisha shouldn't get caught up in such a relationship. But they weren't really together either. Oh, this was troublesome, Kanda would spend no end of time trying to figure this out. "Well, as long as you know Kan-chan. But I've got to ask one more thing...Just how much have you two done?" Daisya asked, looking at anything but Kanda. Yuu's face turned turned into an expression of surprise, and he choked on air for a moment. "Nothing! Nothing beyond what you just saw! Even I'm not that stupid!" Kanda said indignantly, and Daisya breathed a sigh of relief. "Good to hear. Anyway, the real reason I came to our room was to get you, it just wasn't to see Bak. Sorry, but that was just the first excuse that came to mind to get ya outta there...Forgot that there was a real reason, ya see," Daisya explained, having the grace to look embarrassed about this. Kanda quirked an eyebrow at this, silently asking what was going on. He got his answer when the two of them stopped in the courtyard. Standing in the yard, aged ten years but still young in appearance, was his brother. It was a day earlier than the date given on his brother's letter, Kanda had not been prepared for this quite yet.

For a few minutes, no one made a move to talk or get closer, the two just looked each other up and down, taking in all the changes that had come about since they'd last seen each other, when Kanda was five. His onii-san had been 15 when he was sent to work, and now he was ten years older and looked the part. His face still resembled Kanda's in that it was somewhat feminine, but he looked mature. His hair was much shorter than Kanda's too, of course. It was cut close to his head, with neat bangs swept across his brow. His western business suit complemented his strong frame. The older Kanda's face displayed his shock clearly. Yuu felt like squirming under his onii-san's inquisitive gaze. There was no doubt that Yuu had changed dramatically since he was five, but aside from that, he guessed that his brother had probably not expected his younger brother to look quite so feminine. Kanda's loosely bound waistlength hair, thin, pale face, and flowing pale red robs were in stark contrast with his brother's appearance. "Y-Yuu...?" For a moment Kanda felt his face redden in shame. Somewhere in his heart, he had always wished that his brother would never see him this way. But no, he'd worked hard to get where he was now, he couldn't be ashamed! He hadn't had a choice anyway, Yuu had just made the best of his life, he should be proud of that! After a moment of tentative silence, Kanda found it in him to answer. "It's been a long time, Haru-nii," Yuu said, using the name he remembered having always called his brother, Haruka, when he was younger. They were both a bit old for nicknames, but at the moment neither of them cared. Being called that was all the incentive Haruka needed to run up to his younger brother and hug him for the first time in ten years. The embrace was a bit awkward, as they were both practically strangers to each other, and it was clear that Haruka was not used to physical contact with other people. He'd must've lived in a much colder environment that Kanda had, for Yuu had no problem with returning the embrace, even though he'd never been one for frivolous physical contact himself. After a moment, Daisya, who'd tactfully stayed to the side and silent, spoke up, "Welcome to the Chan okiya, Kanda-san, Yuu-kun's told us all about you. It's a bit chilly outside, would you like to come in?" Yuu pulled away from his brother and gave Daisya a questioning look, wondering why on earth Haruka was being talked to like a costumer; it was abnormal for Daisya to adopt that smooth, cool tone of voice in the okiya, or anywhere that wasn't a teahouse. It didn't take him long to realize that to everyone else, Haruka was an outsider, and would always remain that way. Haruka either didn't notice the behavior or didn't comment on it, and nodded before following Yuu and Daisya inside. Lavi was waiting just inside the front entrance, he'd probably been watching the entire exchange. "So this is Yuu-chan's onii-chan, hm? I see the resemblance, 'ere and there. Why don't we go to the tea room, where Yuu can astound us with his tea ceremony skills?" Lavi asked. Kanda had the grace to look bashful at the compliment. Haruka decided that this was a good idea, and politely asked if that was alright. A moment later, the three of them were sitting across from each other, while Kanda meticulously prepared the tea. Haruka was impressed with his mastery of tea ceremony. It was difficult for the three of them, Daisya, Lavi, and Yuu, to not fall into their usual banter that accompanied eating or drinking. Kanda wished he didn't feel like he was at work at the moment, he didn't like to act like a geisha unless he had to. It was especially weird to act so formal in his own home. After a tense hour of small talk and casual conversation with Haruka, Yuu excused himself and his older brother, and brought him to the backyard. There were plenty of places to sit, and Kanda had asked that no one bother them for the time being, so hopefully no one would. "Not a very lively bunch, are they?" Haruka asked, after breathing a sigh of relief. He had never liked having to be serious, Haruka was much more laid back than that, but it seemed that like Yuu, when the costume was on (in this case, his suit), he was a business man. But now it was just the two of them and there was little to no awkwardness. "You'd be surprised, actually. Those two are a riot, they're the most energetic people I've ever met. They were just acting that way because you're sort of an outsider here, visitors do not usually come this far into the okiya, but I asked Oto-san for permission to have you here," Kanda explained, trying not to sound offensive. "Oto-san?" Haruka asked, looking bewildered. "That's what we call Bak, the proprietor of this okiya." "Oooh. I get it, so I'm sort of being treated like... a costumer, maybe? The brunette pulled it off just fine, but I have to say I've met geisha more friendly than the redhead." Kanda temporarily overlooked the fact that his brother had ever come into contact with a geisha before this, and explained Lavi's behavior. "Lavi isn't a geisha, he's the doctor's apprentice who lives behind the okiya," Yuu said, pointing to the house that could be seen just over the fence. Haruka let out another little "oh" and looked to where Yuu had pointed. "I don't know why he was acting so strange though, he's just visiting himself, though seeing as he practically grew up here himself, I guess he's almost like one of us." "Maybe he just doesn't like me?" Haruka suggested. There was no offence in his voice, he was just pointing out the most obvious possibility. "That's silly, Lavi likes everyone."

"Clearly not. Gotta say I didn't much like the looks of him myself," Haruka said; there wasn't any contempt in his voice, he was just stating a fact. Haruka had this way of being detached about even disliking someone. Kanda looked surprised, it wasn't like the Haruka he had known to just randomly dislike someone, and it was not often that anyone decided to dislike Lavi at all. "Why?" "He looks at you funny, it was sort of creepy, from where I was sitting." "Really?" Kanda had long-since gotten used to admiring stares, and no longer cared to notice them, and he'd gotten so used to Lavi staring at him that it was usually stranger to not feel that lone green eye on him when they were together. "Really. But, oddball kids aside, how do you like it here? You never seem to have much bad to say about it, but are you happy here?" Kanda decided against correcting Haruka by telling him that Lavi was 20 and therefore definitely not a child, and answered the question. "It's nice here. I didn't like it at first, but everyone is kind, and it's much easier to work as a geisha than it was to work at home. It's definitely not easy, but it's easier. I'm just thankful that I was sent here, rather than the pleasure district, and work hard to be successful." "Successful? Do you really want to be here though?" Haruka couldn't seem to believe that anyone could be content to live this way, even though it really wasn't so horrible. He probably felt the same way as Kanda had when he'd first come to the okiya; it was a disgrace for a man to have to do this. "Well, it's not like I have a choice, I was sold here, I've got a debt to pay. At first I hated it, but then someone told me that because I can't do anything about my circumstances, I should just make the best of them, so that at the very least, I could be proud of myself for working hard, and being the best. I have to work here, so I might as well make the most of myself." "But you do have a choice, Yuu," Haruka said. Yuu looked over to his brother questioningly. "I do?" "Well, yeah... Ever since I started working, I've saved up everything that didn't go to the family, so now I'm rather well off. When I heard what had happened to you, I asked how much you were sold for, and now I've got enough to cover it. Besides, you've been working it off for years, so I'm sure I could afford to get you out of here, if you wanted to leave." Kanda's face was one of complete surprise. Sure, at first he had hated it at the okiya, and even though he still hated having his hair waxed and styled for formal occasions, and it was troublesome to have to put on makeup and elegant kimono day after day, he had never thought of leaving, of buying himself out. On some level he realized that eventually, he would be able to pay back his debt and leave the okiya if he so wished, but he had never thought to actually work towards that day. And now here his brother was, offering to buy him out of the okiya. Kanda had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. It made sense on a logical level to jump at the chance to be with his blood family again, but over the past 8 years, this okiya had become his home, he didn't know if he could leave it right now without regrets. "What would I do if I left?" Kanda asked, putting off his answer with another question. "I'm not trained in many different areas, and I'm no longer used to manual labor. I'd be useless outside of the hanamachi, and it would take a while to change that." That was a sad truth to admit to, but it was true. Kanda was sure that if he took the time to train for something new, he could do anything he really wanted to, but until he finished this supposed training, what would he do? He really would be useless, jobless, and without finances. "You could come live with me in Tokyo. You are my brother, there's nothing wrong with family helping family and living together. You could come work with me too, if you wanted. Heck, you could sit around the house all day and do nothing for all I care, I just don't want you to be someplace where you aren't happy." Kanda appreciated the sentiment, really he did, but even knowing that he would be taken care of on the outside, he was still hesitant to leave the okiya. His conflict must've shown on his face, for his brother sighed and stood up. He looked down to his wristwatch and groaned a little before addressing Kanda. "I can see that you're unsure of what to do. You don't have to answer me now, but think about it a bit, okay? I leave next week, so that's the latest I can take your answer. The offer is always open though, if you ever want out, just tell me," Haruka said, looking a little saddened by his brother's hesitation. "Well, in any case, I've got a meeting in a few hours, I'd better rest up before going there." Haruka bid his brother a good evening, promised to come by again the next day, and left. 000 "So, what was Haruka-san doing here today?" Komui asked Kanda, as the three of them prepared for their engagement for the evening. Komui had seen Haruka as he was leaving the okiya and the two of them had talked for a bit. Kanda looked over to Komui questioningly. "You called him Haruka-san, do you know him well Komui?" Daisya asked, before Kanda could.

"Not really, that's just how he was introduced to me. He is a business associate of my danna. His company sells uniforms to the military, and Cross sells them weapons. I've only met him once or twice, but he's a nice enough fellow," Komui explained. Kanda and Daisya looked at Komui, wide-eyed. "What?" "That was my brother, coming to visit me after being separated for ten years," Kanda dead panned. Komui's jaw dropped just as he was trying to lightly apply his Kyo Beni(1), and he ended up swearing colorfully when the red line left his lips and went up his cheek. Daisya gave a low, appreciative whistle. "Y-Your brother?! Bu-but... I mean yeah, there's a bit of resemblance but goodness... You both act differently and you just... Why am I never told the important things?" Komui huffed, throwing his hands (and consequently the brush he was using) into the air, feeling annoyed and left out of the loop. "Yes...he is my brother," Kanda said with a sigh, feeling that Komui's reaction was far too dramatic for the situation. Well, maybe not far too dramatic... "And... He said he wants to buy me back from the okiya so that I can live with him in Tokyo..." This time, it was Daisya, who was putting combs and ornaments in his hair, that yell obscenities as he accidently stabbed himself with a particularly long-toothed comb. "Are you serious? He's going to take you away from here? When? This isn't fair at all, we had no warning! And what if we don't wanna let our imouto-chan go just yet? Not fair I'm tellin' ya, that's just plain not fair!" "Relax, Daisya, he didn't say he was going to, he said I had the option of doing that... If I wanted him to, he would..." The mood of the room went from angry to upset in a second. Kanda knew that both Daisya and Komui were wondering if he would choose to leave or stay. "So...what is it that you want to do...?" Komui asked tentatively, as though he were afraid of the answer. "I...Don't know," Kanda answered honestly, "I mean, I'd love to go live with my brother, but..." Kanda didn't need to say it, to know that the others realized what he meant. This place feels like home now. "Well, in any case...I wouldn't suggest telling Lavi about that unless you know for sure you're going to be leaving. That man would fly off the handle if he ever found out that anyone besides himself was planning to do that," Komui said. Daisya and Kanda both looked at Komui, wearing worried expressions. He gave them an annoyed look. "Hey, just because you can hide the fact that you like Lavi from everyone else in the okiya, doesn't mean you can hide it from your big brother! I've got years of training here, I have conditioned my mind to pick up on anything that poses a threat to my dear little siblings' purity! That, and...ah...naw, I shouldn't say it..." Komui suddenly shook his head and refused to go on. Daisya and Kanda's interest was immediately caught by this. "Shouldn't say what, Komui? How did you know about those two, when I only just found out about them today?!" Daisya demanded an answer with a huff. Komui quirked an eyebrow at him, then looked to Kanda, as if to ask, "Why does he know?" Kanda gave him a similar look that asked, "Why do you know?" "I walked in on the two of them today! They weren't doing anything bad, really, and I had my speculations but still...So yeah, I know now," Daisya said, "Now why do you know? And what was the "that, and..." about?" Komui debated in his mind whether he should tell his two young charges about this or not. In the end, his excitement over the topic won out over the fact that he wasn't supposed to talk about it yet, and he blurted it out. "Lavi has talked to me about becoming Kan-chan's danna. Not now, but in a few years when Kan-chan's a fullfledged geisha, and the Doctor has retired and Lavi takes his place. He's talked to me about it quite a few times, he seems very serious about it." Kanda's face lit up, and he decided that he might need to wear a bit more oshiroi(2) than usual tonight, because his face would be this red until tomorrow morning. 000 Tonight the three were to attend a business meeting with Cross and Tyki, along with a few of their associates. By now, both Kanda and Daisya knew that they were expected to stay quiet while the meeting was in session, keep everyone's glasses filled, and when it came time for entertainment, they were to entertain. It was mid-spring, so Kanda wore a deep crimson kimono with pale pink accents and a bright red, almost orange, obi. The hana kanzashi in his hair were sakura patterned, while his kimono had an iris pattern. At the base of the twist in his hair was the pale lotus comb. Daisya and Komui were also wearing spring-patterned kimonos, Daisya's a color scheme of purples, and Komui's a mix of pale pink, white, and green. (3) Though it was getting warmer out, the nights were still nippy, so the three were thankful for the warmth the tea house provided. Komui was, as always, the first to enter the room. For a minute the older man stopped at the door, but then continued in and was followed by Daisya, who strangely enough did the same, though there was no reason to. When Kanda appeared in the door, he realized immediately why they had paused before entering. Sitting next to a young and well-dressed woman with a beautiful yet scarred feature, was his brother, who looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. Kanda prayed to God that he looked different enough in his work clothes as to not be recognizable. Apparently, praying didn't work for Kanda because as soon as Haruka looked up at him, his eyes widened in recognition and surprise. Yuu decided to take this chance to show his brother that working as a geisha wasn't as horrible or demeaning for a boy as he might think, and straightened his back a little before entering the room.

Kanda took his usual seat between Tyki and another one of Cross' associates, Sokalo, who was quite ill-tempered and liked to engage Kanda in a word battles; there never was a clear winner. Kanda found it rather difficult to maintain his composure while the meeting was in session. His brother stared at him any chance he got, as though he were scrutinizing him, trying to get into his head. Well, it was impossible to really get into a geisha's head when one was working, but the attempt itself was unnerving. Kanda wrung his hands under the table when no one was looking, and somehow managed to not let anyone catch onto the fact that he was feeling nervous. The only people who noticed were Daisya and Komui, for obvious reasons. Those two, and Tyki, of course, who noticed every little thing Kanda did. That too, was usually pretty unnerving. "Feeling nervous, Misaki-chan?" Tyki leaned towards Kanda and asked in a whisper, inquisitive eyebrow raised. "Misaki" was Kanda's geisha name. If he was a normal geisha, then this would've become his new name the moment he'd become a minarai, and he would never be called anything else. However, the names were just another corner his okiya cut. They called each other by their real names only when they were at home and off from work, being allowed to use each other's real names was a show of how close to each other they were. Names were another wall that separated personal relationships from business ones. "Just a tad," Kanda replied, using his folding fan as a way to cover his moving lips. "Haruka happens to be the brother I haven't seen since I was five, and I never anticipated having to entertain my own brother." "Oh..." Tyki's eyes widened in surprise, and he suddenly became aware of the fact that a certain older brother was discretely shooting glares at him. He shuttered, and quickly sat up straight again. He wondered if he was going to make it out of this meeting alive. "Misaki, Marie-san was hoping to listen to some music, and Sokalo-san was wondering if you'd accompany our song with a dance," Daisya said, motioning to the two men sitting next to him. Marie-san was very appreciative of music, though one would not expect that of the burly, silent man. Sokalo too, was a strongly built man whom you wouldn't expect to appreciate dance, and yet did. Kanda nodded politely and quickly stood from his seat. He and Komui went to the corner where his fans and Komui's shamisen were kept, and Daisya took a seat near the performance area. When Kanda had first started learning dance, he'd hated it, but after he'd started entertaining costumers, he'd found it was a wonderful way to block them out. And that was still how he felt, as he took his place in the center of the floor, listened as Komui strummed his shamisen and Daisya sung, and waited for his cue to begin. All he had to worry about for these few moments was dropping his fans and tripping, and he'd never done either. All he had to be aware of was himself, the shamisen, and Daisya's voice. Dance had become Kanda's way of meditating, and he felt happiest when he was moving gracefully, with a fan in either hand that now felt like an extension of himself; he'd once entertained a samurai who had mentioned that wielding a sword felt much the same. When he came back down to earth, the first thing Yuu noticed was Haruka staring at him with a rather impressed and maybe even proud look in his eyes. Suddenly Kanda didn't feel as nervous as he had all night, and he stopped wringing his sleeves. 000 Just a few moments before the three geisha were to leave the teahouse, Tyki approached him and asked to talk in private for a moment. Kanda was hesitant to say yes, because Tyki seemed a bit different than usual. He seemed a bit nervous, and he wasn't being his usual overly-confident self, he'd actually been acting odd the entire night and Kanda was unsure of what to make of this. Still, he obliged and stayed in the tea room with the older man until everyone left. "What is it you wanted to talk about, Tyki-san?" Kanda asked, his business mask still firmly in place, hiding his unease. Tyki seemed still seemed unsure, and for a moment Yuu didn't think he would reply. Then, something in the older man's mind resolved itself, and while he still seemed unsure, he now looked determined, too. "I've been considering this for a while now. Next year you will no longer be a maiko, but a full-fledged geisha... I was thinking that at that time, I would like to become your danna." Kanda's dark eyes widened in shock; he hadn't expected this from Tyki, and he certainly hadn't expected to hear that two people wanted him in one day. Kanda was unsure of what to do at this particular point in time, because they had never covered what he should do in this situation during his training. He bit his lip and looked to the floor, hoping that the gesture was one of meekness and not of rejection. Honestly, he didn't dislike Tyki so much anymore, but he hadn't worked so hard for all of these years to win over this man. Still, Kanda didn't have much choice in the matter, and it was part of his job, so he supposed he should be thankful. "I am grateful that you think so highly of me...Thank you, Tyki-san." Neither man was sure of how to stem the growing awkwardness of the situation, but luckily, Daisya poked his head into the room and told Kanda that they were leaving. Kanda was silent on the walk home. It wasn't as though he was a chatter box in the first place, but usually he added some witty comment or other every so often. Now he was just too focused on trying to solve his current problem to make any input. So he had two people who wanted to become his danna, and one person who wanted to buy him from the okiya all together. One was his brother, whom Kanda definitely wanted to see more often

and wouldn't mind living with in the least. Haruka was also offering him freedom from the constrictions of the flower and willow world. Then there was Tyki, his loyal costumer whom he had established a unique friendship with over years of service. And lastly, there was Lavi, his childhood friend who'd been the one person who had really been able to keep him going through nearly 8 years of training and work. He'd been the one who Kanda had worked toward for years, when he'd lost hope in his brother ever finding him. Lavi had been planning to take him away longer than anyone else had, and Kanda knew that if he took either of his first two options, then he would hurt someone he cared for deeply (even though he would never admit just how deeply he did care). When the trio reached the okiya, they were greeted by a slightly tired looking Lavi, who had come home not but a few minutes earlier from an appointment, and had decided to wait a little while for their return. Kanda, too busy thinking and not wanting his judgment to be swayed by any particular person's presence, had pushed right past the man and kept walking until he reached his room, and shut his door louder than he intended to. "What's with him?" Lavi asked, hitching a thumb in the direction Kanda had walked. "I'm not sure," Daisya said, his eyebrows furrowing in worry. "Tyki kept him behind for a moment, and I'm not really sure what happened between them, but he's been silent ever since." The two young men looked towards Komui, to see if he knew anything about this. Komui looked away from them, for he did have an idea of what was wrong, but he really, really couldn't tell them, at least not now. "Komui..." Lavi said, in a voice that was very close to threatening. Komui was annoyed with the lack of understanding. "Hey, I've got to follow the rules sometimes too, ok? There are some affairs that need to remain confidential." Well, in truth, Komui had heard about Tyki's intentions from Cross, and not the man himself, so unless Kanda affirmed his suspicions, what he knew was nothing more than gossip, but still, Komui was not supposed to tell anyone about such matters until they are official. It was different when it came to Lavi, because Lavi was a close friend of theirs and they all vaguely knew he was planning to take Kanda anyway. This was different though, this was completely business. "I'm sure he'll get over it with time," Komui assured, "he'll surely make whatever decision is best for himself, and we'll just have to be happy with it, whatever it is." 000 Apparently, Kanda was still in the decision-making process when the end of the week rolled by. He was outright refusing to see Lavi, and even at work some of his customers noticed that he wasn't being as sarcastic or snarky as usual. Luckily, he didn't have to see Tyki again for the rest of the week. Haruka had come to visit every day that he had been in town, and had more often than not taken Yuu out of the okiya for a while to eat together. Kanda had borrowed some more western-looking clothes from Haruka and tied his hair back in a simple ponytail in hopes that he would be less recognizable without his usual makeup and clothing. The last thing he wanted was to meet a customer on the streets and have them actually recognize him, and get the wrong idea. "Yuu, I'm leaving tomorrow morning, you know... And you've yet to answer my question," Haruka said, as they left a small eatery and headed back to the hanamachi. "I... It's hard to choose... I want to stay with you, and I would enjoy living with family, I know but... I've built a life for myself here too. I don't know...what I want more..." On the one hand, if Kanda used this chance to escape the world he currently lived in, then Kanda wouldn't have to worry about the complications involving his two potential danna, Kanda would be free to chose his relationships as he saw fit, and if he wanted he could always go back to the flower and willow world. This seemed like an easy fix, but it wasn't. Sure, Kanda would be free to pursue whatever relationships he wanted, friendly or otherwise, but he wouldn't be in the hanamachi anymore, he wouldn't even be in Kyoto at all. He'd be up in Tokyo with his brother, and Lavi couldn't follow him there easily. Tyki could probably find a way to use his work as an excuse to visit, but Kanda didn't want to further his relationship with the man, he was perfectly fine where they were. Kanda would have to leave behind everyone he cared for and give up the life he was so used to, though he would still have his brother and he could probably make it work for himself. Still...would he ever be as happy in Tokyo as he was in Kyoto? Haruka sighed, shaking his head. "Then the choice is obvious, Yuu," he said. "From what I've seen in the past week, I can tell that you've made a place for yourself in that okiya, you've made those people into your new family. Yuu, you were forced to leave your home once, don't feel as though I want to force you away from your home again." Kanda looked at his brother with a surprised expression. He hadn't wanted to hurt Haruka's feelings by making it seem like he'd replaced their family or something, but in the end he couldn't stop himself from treating his friends in the okiya as family. Haruka didn't seem all that offended by it though, and Kanda thanked hi brother's detached nature for that. His older brother wasn't so petty as to take that personally, it was only natural for one to get to know and eventually care for the people around them. "I... Thank you, Haru-nii."

"Don't mention, it. I just want my otouto-chan to be happy, wherever he is! Just be sure to write every so often, or I'll worry. And..." Haruka's understanding, big brother aura suddenly took a dive for the worst. "If that redhead or Tyki-san dare to make any moves on you before you're 30, I'll come back here and kill them..." For a moment, Haruka looked like the devil incarnate, and Yuu feared for the two aforementioned suitors' lives.

4- Our Dramatic conclusion Though the trouble with Haruka had been easily resolved, Yuu still had two very big problems, and this was something that couldn't be resolved with understanding or just choosing, even. Clearly, when it came to having a danna, Kanda would want Lavi, but this wasn't something Kanda would get a choice in, it was first come, first serve. Kanda knew (for it was his business to know) that Tyki had the finances to back up his words right now if he wanted to, whereas Lavi, though he was now a certified doctor, was still building up his credibility, and it could take a few years before he was making as much as the old doctor did. It was obvious who would be the fastest to take Kanda, and that was exactly why Kanda was avoiding Lavi like his life depended on it. He couldn't face Lavi while feeling like he was going to end up betraying the man. So Kanda acted cold and indifferent when he had to be around the older man, and avoided being with the redhead when he could help it. This didn't go unnoticed by his friends, it couldn't be overlooked. "Kan-chan, what's up with you lately? Ever since your brother came here, you've been actin' coldly towards Lavi. Yer breakin' the man's heart, what'd he do to deserve that?" Daisya asked, looking annoyed with Kanda's recent behavior. Kanda didn't respond and told Fou to tie his obi a bit tighter. "Give him a break Daisya," Komui said, "he's got a lot to think about right now." "Yeah, well it'd be a lot easier to be as sympathetic as you are if I knew why the heck he's actin' this way!" Daisya huffed, as he placed a final comb in his hair. Kanda knew he was being unfair to both Lavi and Daisya for not giving either of them an explanation, but he couldn't help it, it was just in his nature to avoid the things he didn't want to deal with, and telling anyone about this problem was most definitely out of the question. 000 A month. A whole month had gone by since Haruka had left, and Yuu had not said a word to him! Lavi was beyond feeling sorry for himself now, had passed by anger, and was headed for rage. What had he done to deserve the silent treatment? Ok, so they had gotten caught together, and Lavi could see Kanda being more careful from then on out, and at first that's what Lavi had assumed Kanda was doing. But a whole month and not even a "Hello" was pushing it. Well, Lavi certainly wouldn't stand for that a moment longer! Oh no, today was the day that he would make a stand and get Yuu to give him a reason for the cold behavior! So Lavi marched into the okiya that afternoon, knowing that at least for the day he had no appointments to go to, and that he had a precious few hours before Kanda had to leave for work. "Dai-kun, where's Yuu?" Lavi asked when he past the brunette boy. Daisya raised an eyebrow at Lavi curiously. "He's in the backyard on the porch. Didn't you see him on your way here?" the younger boy asked, knowing that Lavi always cut through the backyard, rather than doing the proper thing and walking to the front. Lavi opened his mouth to respond, but instead just slapped his palm over his face and sighed at his own idiocy. Turning back on his heel, he bid Daisya good day, before heading to the back to find Yuu-chan. He faintly heard Daisya murmur "Good luck" under his breath. 000 Kanda felt like such a damn coward, sitting on the porch and staring into his neighbor's yard because he couldn't round up the courage to actually go see Lavi. He felt like he was 10 all over again, too afraid and shy and worried to just cross into the other's yard. And when Lavi had actually walked right through the okiya's yard and hadn't even spared Kanda a glace...well, that hurt, but Kanda supposed he deserved the cold treatment. You get what you give, and all that jazz. "You know, staring never got anyone anywhere." Were Kanda a more easily frightened being, he would've jumped out of his skins and fallen off the porch. But as he was a well-composed geisha, he did not even startle at the voice. Kanda felt like the world was going to crush him, as the anxiety that he'd been trying to stave off crashed onto his shoulders. He couldn't tell Lavi about this yet, he just couldn't. The more time wore on, and the more Yuu saw of Tyki, the more he realized that the older man was serious, and that his becoming Kanda's danna was inevitable. He simply couldn't tell Lavi that, because Kanda knew better than anyone how angry Lavi would get, the redhead was much more possessive than one would think, considering that he loved someone of Kanda's profession. "Wanna tell me why you've been avoiding me like the plague, Yuu?" Lavi asked, with a sour look on his face. Naturally he was pissed at Kanda for avoiding him. Maybe this would all be easier to leave behind if Lavi hated him? Kanda considered this for a moment, and neglected to answer Lavi. "Don't you ignore me when I'm sitting right next to you! We're alone right now you know, no one's going to hear you if you give me your reason why." Daisya was inside making sure that what Lavi said was true by diverting all traffic from this general area. Still, Kanda made no move to answer. Lavi was getting less and less angry and

was starting to look more hurt than anything else. Kanda was diligently looking at a patch of grass and couldn't see the older man's expression, but he could feel hurt and confusion rolling off the other in waves. "What did I do to make you hate me so much, Yuu?" Kanda bit his lip; that one stung, a lot. Kanda didn't hate Lavi, not at all, even if he did call the older man a jerk and a pervert and any number of things really, Kanda definitely did not hate Lavi. Kanda's head sunk just a little; the small gesture alerted Lavi to Kanda's inner turmoil, and the redhead switched from offensive to worried. "Yuu? Are you alright?" "...I'm...I'm fine..." The first thing Kanda had said to Lavi in a month, and it was a blatant lie. "No, you're not. What's wrong Yuu? Is whatever troubling you the reason you won't talk to me anymore?" Lavi hit the nail on the head there, and Kanda's continuing silence was answer enough for Lavi. "What's eatin' at ya? This wouldn't be the first time you told me about your worries, so why are you holding back now?" 'Because this will hurt you the most.' Kanda could see no way short of making a run for his room that would get him out of the situation, and Lavi was quicker than he was anyway. Kanda braced himself for Lavi's reaction, and mumbled the reason under his breath. "Huh? Yuu-chan, I can't hear you when ya mumble like that," Lavi said, looking happier now that Kanda was answering him, but frustrated because he couldn't actually hear the boy. "Ty...ans...danna..." Lavi had made out a word or two this time, but he still could not understand the boy. "Speak up, Yuu!" "I said Tyki is planning to become my danna!" Kanda all but yelled out, angry with being told to speak louder about something he didn't want to admit. He huffed into the cool air once, and then, realizing what he'd just said, sucked in a surprised breath of air. Tentatively, Kanda looked over to Lavi, only to find that the man's one green eye had widened impossibly, and that his expression was one of utter shock. "I... I didn't want to say anything about it just yet but... It was odd to be around you knowing that... and this guy is serious, the moment I become a full-fledged geisha, he is planning to make the offer to Bak-san." Lavi had no idea how he should handle this. Since before he had even met Yuu, he'd been captivated by him, and since the beginning, he had planned to have Kanda for himself. This simply could not be tolerated; no one could be allowed to take Kanda away from him. But what could he do? Currently, Lavi was building up credibility with his clients as a competent doctor, and he had taken most of the Doctor's old patients, but he had yet to earn as much as the old man did, and it might take years for Lavi to get to that level. But Lavi didn't have years; he had a little more than half a year. Compared to someone with a steady income that was confident in his ability to pay for the daily expenses of a geisha, Lavi had no chance. "Yuu... I..." What could Lavi say now that would have any effect on the distressed boy? He had never experienced anything like this himself, and he had no idea what to do, when faced with the knowledge that the person he loved was going to be given to another man in a ceremony that was nearly identical to marriage. "I'm going to try, Yuu, by God I swear I'm going to try. I'm sorry...but it's all I can do." Lavi pulled the boy into a tight embrace, and Kanda, his eyes unseeing and just a bit misty, tightly clenched his fingers around the material of the older man's yukata. Neither of them cried or got angry as one might've expected, they just sat together as a silent comfort to each other, until they both felt they could let go. "Yuu," Lavi said, when he noticed Daisya motioning to him at the door. Clearly, it was time for Kanda to go. "Yuu." Lavi shook the boy a little, and roused him from his drowsy state. "You've got to go now, Yuu. If you don't, Bak will scold you for being late." Kanda looked up at Lavi with slightly wet eyes; he looked so close to crying, though Lavi knew he never would, that he just wanted to keep the boy here all the more. "I don't want to go, I'm going to see him again," the boy said bitterly. Lavi ran a hand over Kanda's hair in a soothing manner. "I know you don't want to go, but right now you have to. Besides, Daisya is looking ready to come out here himself and get you." Kanda turned to look in the direction Lavi was facing, and saw that indeed, Daisya was already making his way over to the pair. Turning back to Lavi, Kanda stood up, and left. 000 The day had been planned out perfectly, and the okiya had been cleaned and rearranged and made to sparkle. It was only a week away, and everyone was twittering with excitement. Kanda Yuu, the most popular maiko their side of the hanamachi had seen in years, was finally going to be tied to his danna. The offer had been officially brought to Bak by Tyki, and though Lavi tried to fight it, he was soon shown that he could not win against the financial security that Tyki Mikk offered. Kanda was close to inconsolable, in his own introverted way, and the only ones who could understand his plight were Daisya and Komui. Even Lenalee, who had long since grown into a beautiful and very insightful young woman, was clueless as to why Kanda was so unhappy on such a usually joyous occasion. "Kan-chan, I know this is going to be difficult for you, but... You will get used to it, you'll learn to be happy with it, even. Besides, it's not like you'll never see Lavi again, you can visit the okiya anytime you want to." Komui

tried to sooth the younger boy, but in the end he only reminded both Kanda and Daisya of the fact that they would no longer be rooming together, as Tyki had requested that Kanda move in with him, and Kanda had no idea how to say no to that without seeming suspicious. "Easy for you to say, Komui," Kanda said bitterly, "You actually love your danna, and you've got a perfectly good reason to stay in the okiya because Lenalee is here, so you don't have to leave. Things couldn't have worked out better for you." "I... Kanda..." Komui could not think of anything comforting to say in the face of these facts, and chose instead to simply state things as they were, from a more detached point of view. "Look, whether you like it or not, someone is offering to pay off all of your daily expenses and then some. You should be grateful, and it is your job to do as this person pleases, so you'd better do it well. Put on your mask, and face the facts. This isn't going to change anytime soon, and just because you don't want it, doesn't mean that you can stop it." "Komui!" Daisya exclaimed, angry with their onii-san's blunt speech. "Saying things like that is not going to help any! Truth or not, at least let the kid keep some of his hope intact!" "No," Kanda interjected quietly. "No, Daisya...Komui is right. I need to face the reality, and deal with it. I am not so weak that I can't even put on my mask and play the part of a good geisha for my danna." The cool, expressionless voice Kanda used made Komui instantly regret what he'd said. Kanda may be more determined to move on now, but he was a far cry from happy. Silently, Kanda stood up and left his room. As he walked through the halls he got many congratulations, and he put on his fake smile, the one he never used in the okiya with people he actually cared for, and thanked them as if they were all his costumers. When he reached the backyard though, he pulled up the hem of his yukata and made a running jump over the low fence that separated his yard from Lavi's. He hit the ground running too, and quickly entered the older man's house, checking to be sure that no one from the okiya was in the yard. It wasn't abnormal for him to go to Lavi's house, but with the ever-nearing date of his ceremony, such a visit could easily be seen as scandalous. Kanda only bothered to be polite when he reached the door he knew led to Lavi's room, and by then he'd made so much noise running through the house that Lavi was coming out of the room to see what all of the noise was about. The redhead raised an eyebrow at Kanda's flustered expression, but stepped aside in a silent invitation. Kanda had never gone into Lavi's room before, because to actually go into another person's room alone was just absolutely shameless for a geisha. Kanda couldn't be bothered with shame though, heck, maybe a bad rumor or two would halt his ceremony for a while. "What's with the sudden visit, Yuu?" Lavi asked, looking Kanda over for a moment. The boy was slightly winded and his tabi were dirty from running outside without shoes on. Kanda didn't bother to answer verbally, and all but threw himself at Lavi in a very out of character fashion. Normally Lavi would be overjoyed by the younger man's excitement and take advantage of the opportunity given to him. However, with the knowledge of what was to happen in a few days time, this meeting felt very similar to an affair, and Lavi felt a bit too much like the other man for his liking. Gently, Lavi pushed Yuu away. "Yuu, what's going on with you? You do realize how much this could hurt your good name, don't you?" "I don't care anymore. I'll face everything tomorrow as it is, but I'll get what I want before then!" Get what he wanted? What did Yuu mean by that, Lavi wondered? The redhead could think of quite a few things it seemed like Kanda wanted, but all of which would have very serious repercussions later on, if anyone ever found out about them. "Yuu," Lavi sighed and shook his head. "I can't do that now. Even if it isn't official yet, you basically belong to someone else now, it would be wrong to do anything together at this point in time." Kanda glared at Lavi with the intensity of hell. "Che, so that's all it takes to make you quit? Was this whole thing just some game to you then? Are you dropping out and quitting just because you couldn't win fairly and be the first one to become my danna? Well, if that's the case, then yes, you've lost, and since I'm apparently the prize in your little game, I'd better go to the person who won me." Kanda turned from Lavi sharply and made for the door. Before he could think, Lavi reached out and stopped Kanda, as the younger boy knew he would. The edges of his lips quirked up into the beginnings of a smirk. "Wait Yuu! You know that you were never some prize to me, why would you say that?" "Well, that's how you are treating me. You haven't come to see me at all since the date for the ceremony was set. You're sulking like a child who's lost a race." "I am no-" "But the fact is, this is a race, and it isn't over yet! I don't care if you have to cheat to win, and I can live with the fact that you won't be my danna, but this isn't over yet. You don't have to play fair to win, Lavi. You could still be the first." Lavi just stared at Kanda in amazement. He wasn't suggesting what Lavi thought he was suggesting, now was he? The question must've been clear on his face, for Kanda nodded to him.

"Yuu, that isn't the kind of thing you can take back later, and no matter how careful I am, people will notice. Are you even sure of what you're saying?" "Of course I am. I've got a few days before the ceremony, more than enough time to heal. We can think of something to hide it later, but right now it's all up to you," Kanda said, staring Lavi straight in the eye. It was impossible to look away, and even harder for Lavi to not fall for Yuu's charming, yet positively demanding eyes. In the end, Lavi couldn't say no. He walked up to Kanda, cupped the younger boy's face in his hands, and kissed him deeply. Quickly, they became involved more intimately than they ever had before. In an exploring, loving flurry of kisses and gentle touches, the two made their way to Lavi's bed. There was burning pain for Kanda at first, and for a while he wondered why anyone would engage in such unpleasurable acts, though Lavi seemed to be having a hard time restraining his pleasure enough to not hurt him. But then Lavi did something amazing, and after that the pain was like a distant dream. There was touching, all sorts of touching everywhere, Kanda couldn't keep his hands away from the older man's body. Likewise, Lavi couldn't keep his lips from raining down on Yuu's skin, couldn't keep his hands out of Kanda's long, silky hair. Every touch was as gentle as possible, there was nothing harsh or hurried in their movements. This was their time to forget about the world that waited for them outside of Lavi's room, they would treasure it. They both knew that tomorrow, it would be as though this had never happened. 000 When Kanda returned to the okiya, he made a scene of falling and "painfully" twisting his ankle. Naturally, Lavi was called over to take a look at Yuu's ankle, and declared that it was sprained, and that he would probably be limping for a while, but would be able to walk, because it wasn't a bad sprain. The good doctor suggested that he stay off his feet for the time being, and Bak decided it would be best to let Kanda take a few evenings off. Kanda was reprimanded for not being more careful, especially since it was the week of his big ceremony, but Kanda simply stated that he was getting so nervous and excited that he had failed to be cautious. Only Daisya and Komui knew what had happened, even if they hadn't been told, but they didn't say a thing, not even to each other. It seemed to them that accepting Tyki as his danna had been made a bit easier now, anyway. Besides, Kanda wasn't a girl, so it wasn't like there would be much proof of what he'd done by the end of the week. "Just two more days now, hm? Wanna go out and have a bachelor's party before yer big day?" Daisya asked in jest. Now that Kanda was feeling better, it was safer to make such jokes; Daisya didn't have to worry about Kanda stabbing him with a kanzashi and then falling into a spiral of depression. "I hate parties," Kanda said in a displeased voice that held little venom. "A little ironic then, considering you entertain at them," Komui pointed out as he placed that damnable lotus comb into Kanda's hair. "That's why I hate them." 000 Kanda was for once not wearing the crimson layers that Komui had always preferred to dress him in, but was instead wearing layers of white and gold and only the barest hints of his preferred color. It was that day. Kanda touched up his mask a bit before leaving his room. Everyone was so happy today, it sort of irked Kanda because he wasn't quite sure why they were happy. Sure, a few of them were genuinely happy that he was succeeding in their business, but he was pretty sure that the ones that had disliked him ever since the beginning were probably just happy to be rid of him. Then of course, there were the two with the bittersweet feelings, and the redhead who had not even bothered to show up for the occasion. Kanda was glad he hadn't, they would've done something stupid if he had. Kanda felt so much like a bride that the embarrassment was starting to seem like a mild torture. The ceremony was far too much like a wedding ceremony for his liking, and he didn't really care for how permanent this all felt. Still, as annoyingly painful as this would all seem as soon as what was happening really hit him, at the moment Kanda was feeling something close to numb. Outwardly, he tried to look happy and pleased, and if his colleagues' reactions to him were any indication, he was doing a pretty decent job of it. He didn't miss the worried glances that Daisya and Komui shot him every so often. 000 By the next day, Kanda was completely moved out of the okiya. He'd tried to drag out the process, but somehow everything still got moved so quickly. It was unsettling, the pace with which one could uproot their own life. He had spent his last night at the okiya awake with Komui and Daisya, and the two dwelled in nostalgia as he kept quietly to himself, just soaking in their presences. He didn't get much of a "goodbye" from Lavi; on his way out of the okiya, he looked back one final time and saw the man leaning in the doorway, clearly pained. It had been so hard to look away. Tyki's home was built in a more western style, and was easily twice the size of the okiya. There were three floors, the bottom-most of which were used by the live-in servants, and also had the dining room, library, a large party area, and the kitchens. The top floor was almost exclusively used by Tyki, and now, Yuu. Kanda supposed

the second floor was for guests or something, but he couldn't imagine why Tyki would need so many extra rooms. He had nearly gotten lost a few times during the tour when he lingered a minute too long in a room or corridor. Just because Tyki was his danna, did not mean he got any physical reward for this, it was not a geisha's way to give such rewards for financial support. Basically, the only way Tyki was getting anything was if Kanda felt like giving it up, which was very unlikely. Tyki knew this, respected it, and was just as much of a gentleman towards Kanda as he ever had been. Kanda was thankful for this, very, very thankful. Still, it would be a stretch to say he was happy here. Kanda was practically living his job now; he put his makeup and kimono on first thing in the morning-or afternoon. He found it difficult to get out of the habit of waking up at twelve like he had for the past 6 years. He used to get home at insanely late hours of the night, of course he slept late. That was fine though, as Tyki left early, so it wasn't as if there was any reason for him to be up until dusk. Despite the fact that Kanda was a geisha and therefore had learned how to act sociably the same way one might learn math, he was not a naturally social person. It was hard to be in an unfamiliar house with people he didn't know, most of which were foreigners who assumed he was simply their master's stuck-up...mistress... or something of the like. He wondered if any of them even realized he was male. Kanda knew that if he bothered to try, he could easily charm most of the staff, but he simply didn't want to be around other people. He didn't want to make new friends. He didn't want to adjust. He wanted to be home. He felt quite miserable on the inside, but the moment his danna returned home from a long day of tiresome work, there he was, all smirks and sarcasm and mysteriously soothing. 000 It took months for Kanda to work up the courage to visit his old okiya, the same way it had taken him a long time to get himself to visit Lavi's home. Kanda asked to be woken up early one morning so that he would be able to spend as much time with Daisya and Komui as he could before they left for their evening appointments. He'd seen them a few times at meetings and parties, but it wasn't as though they could have proper conversations at those times. He felt like he would become a stranger to them if he didn't visit soon. So, Kanda arrived at the okiya in the subdued kimonos of a full-fledged geisha who no longer needed elaborate robes to make himself look attractive. Bak and Fou greeted him warmly, and he was told that Daisya and Komui had just woken up. Kanda decided it would be best to surprise them by waiting for them at the breakfast table, rather than going into their rooms to wake them. Besides, he didn't want to see what his old room looked like now. He wondered if Daisya had moved his stuff into Kanda's side of the room, or if it was still barren. Kanda had sat with his back to the door, but Daisya had recognized him right away anyway, and had hugged him with enough vigor to send them both to the floor. "KAN-CHAN! You're back, you're back! Good God, I gotta get Komui, he's gonna freak!" Daisya exclaimed while squeezing the air out of Kanda's lungs as if he were a tube of toothpaste. Despite the older boy's words about getting their onii-san, he did not leave or let go of Kanda until Komui came into the dining room himself and repeated all of Daisya's earlier actions. A moment later, Lenalee heard the ruckus the two older men were making and came in. She added tears to the mix, and after five minutes of intense hugging, Kanda could no longer breathe and was starting to question why he had come here, and why everyone seemed to have gotten the urge to smother him to death. "So what's yer danna's place like, Kan-chan?" Daisy asked once everyone had calmed down, because as much as everyone would've loved to have avoided the subject, there wasn't much more they could ask Kanda about. Besides, they were worried. What if their dear imouto-chan was being mistreated and had returned home to escape his abusive danna? What if Tyki was unexpectedly cheap and he was living in a shed or something? "It's big, western... there are a lot of servants, but otherwise he lives alone. His relatives come by for extended visits often though, he's got an entire floor for them to live in." Currently, the man's second youngest cousin, Allen, Kanda believed his name was, was taking up residence on the second floor. Allen and Kanda exchanged witty banter over meals because neither of them had much to do while Tyki was out. They found out quite quickly that they rather hated each other, and tended to stay on their own floors. When Haruka had heard about the whole deal, he too had made a "friendly visit" to the house. That was mortifying. "Does he treat you well? He doesn't seem like a cruel man, but it wouldn't be the first time that someone put on airs for the sake of looking kind," Komui said, also worried for his beloved little sister's well-being. "He's out most of the day for work, but he's kind enough when he gets home. It's like free-loading off a close friend, really." Kanda also wanted to add that feeling like a free-loader annoyed the hell out of him, and he wished that he could help someone do something so that he could feel like he was earning his keep. The servants wouldn't allow him to lift a finger, despite the fact that he'd spent three years working as a maid of sorts at the okiya and was perfectly fine with doing chores. Nothing of significance had happened to Kanda since he'd left, so the conversation quickly changed to what had happened in the okiya since he'd moved out. The place was as lively as ever, it seemed. Before Kanda had left, a few more shikomi had come in, and they were both so awkward and excited, and mischievous too, they caused

no end of trouble it seemed. Daisya found it entertaining, Komui was once again taking over that big brother role that he was so perfect for, and Lenalee seemed to be turning into a mother hen type. Kanda was thankful to see that not much had changed, but there was one thing about their stories that was glaringly obvious. Lavi was not involved in any of them. That was unusual, seeing as the redhead had all but lived in the okiya before Kanda had left, so for him to just stop coming there was bizarre. At first, Kanda just figured that the three were just cutting the redhead out of the stories so that he wouldn't get upset, but after a while he realized that there was simply no news on Lavi. So, without really thinking about it, Kanda blurted out the question that had been plaguing his mind. "What's going on with Lavi?" There was a moment of awkward silence, where no one could say a thing. Then Lenalee, the only one who didn't quite know just how deep the issue ran, spoke up. "He hasn't come by at all in the last month or so...stopped coming after you left. We still visit him when we can, but he's gotten a whole lot busier suddenly. We've invited him over plenty of times but he just...won't come here." Lenalee looked to the floor, hurt plain in her features. She didn't understand why the redhead was suddenly pushing them all away. Kanda immediately felt guilty. It was all his fault, wasn't it? Sure, he hadn't had a choice in leaving, but it was because he had left that Lavi didn't visit anymore, wasn't it? Kanda knew he was depressed because of the separation, but he didn't think it was fair that everyone else had to feel the same. 000 Lavi was sitting on his back porch, staring into the okiya's yard the way he had always done when he didn't have enough time to make a proper visit. Lavi did actually have time for that today, but he just couldn't bring himself to go back there so soon. Just looking into the yard was painful, but he couldn't help it. This was the way he'd first found Kanda, and some part of him hoped that maybe he would see Yuu standing there again, and selfishly hoped that Kanda might look saddened after going for months without seeing him. And then, like a dream, it happened. Lavi closed his eyes, sighed at his own hopelessness, and hung his head for a moment. When he looked back into the yard, however, who should he see but the very man he had hoped to find? He looked just as Lavi imagined he would, with the exception that the real Kanda was looking around curiously. Before he could even think about what he was doing, Lavi was running into the yard, and practically tackling Kanda to the ground. "Holy shi-! La-Lavi?!" Kanda coughed twice, and rubbed the back of his head. "Che, be more careful, I've got a head full of sharp objects and it wouldn't take much to put one through my skull! Or are you trying to kill me with my own kanzashi?" Lavi apologized profusely, but didn't bother to do more than sit up, bringing Yuu up with him. Lavi held him close and smoothed over the back of his hair. "I missed you so much," he whispered into the young boy's ear with a sigh, it felt so good to breathe in Yuu's scent again. "Yeah, I noticed," Kanda replied a bit flatly. It wasn't that he wasn't excited to see Lavi again, he was sure the nervousness and the fluttering feeling that he always got when around Lavi would come in due time. At the moment though, there was a shooting pain in the back of his skull that was making him feel less-than-personable for the time being. That, and he'd been speaking in sarcasm for months now, it was sort of difficult to get out of the habit. Lavi pouted at the tone of voice Kanda used. Maybe he was the only one that was excited right now? Maybe Kanda was happy with this Tyki person that Lavi had heard so much about, and no longer had feelings of the romantic nature towards Lavi. "Glad to see you're so enthused," Lavi said dryly, his expression souring a bit. Kanda realized where Lavi's mind was going immediately, and quickly corrected his mistake by standing and pulling Lavi up with him, then dragging the older man out of the okiya's yard and into his own. Once they were hidden from view, Kanda shyly pulled Lavi to him for a kiss, which quickly turned desperate and needy. It wasn't their faults that they hadn't seen each other in months. Kanda gently pushed Lavi away when he needed to breathe; strange, he could've sworn he'd been better at breathing through a kiss than that... Surely, this was the result of living with a chain smoker for months. Yuu held in a snort when he saw that some of his lipstick had gotten onto Lavi's lips. "That shade of red complements your skin well," he said with a hint of sarcasm. Lavi touched his lips and felt the residue there, blushing just a bit. Kanda wasn't used to seeing Lavi blush, so he made sure to commit the image to memory, smirking all the while. A genuine smirk, not his work one. After that, the two moved into the tea room, staying in an open area to make sure that they didn't get carried away. For a good long while the two of them just sat and talked, about anything and everything, the same way they used to before everything got messed up and they realized that everything must come to an end. "So why did you stop visiting the okiya, Lavi? Everyone misses you there, you know," Kanda asked, hoping that he could at least do this for everyone.

"It's just...hard to be there," Lavi said, pain masking his face. "I go there and remember sitting on the porch talking to you, watching you and Daisya get dressed for the evening, playing around when we were kids... And you're not there anymore. It hurts, and I'm a coward who can't get over that." Kanda felt both embarrassed and guilty; so it really was his fault. He had to fix this, he couldn't let Lavi just cut the okiya out of his life this way. But what would he say to Lavi to convince him that memories of himself shouldn't keep Lavi away from the okiya? "Che, you really are a coward. Everyone there misses you and you can't even find it in yourself to go back every once in a while? So now that I'm gone you don't have the time for anyone else?" Kanda shook his head, looking disappointed. Lavi was mildly offended. "Hey! You act like I'm the only one feeling that way! Aren't you the one who spent three months debating over coming back? You're just as bad as I am!" "No, you're worse. See, it might've taken me three months, but at least I came back, unlike a certain redhead." Kanda looked away with an air of superiority, sticking his nose up just a bit. Lavi huffed, and then pouted. Kanda inwardly congratulated himself; baiting Lavi to anger seemed to be getting him somewhere. "Fine then, I suck, happy now? But for your information, I have been really busy lately anyway, I don't have as much time to visit anymore!" Lavi said in his defense. Kanda raised an eyebrow as a cue for Lavi to continue with his excuse-making. "I'm working hard so that I can stabilize my income. Even though it feels permanent, relations between a geisha and a danna don't always last forever. Someday Tyki will find some gal-or guy-that he really gets to know, instead of someone's pretty business face. He'll fall in love with that person for real, and he'll give you up. That is when I'll swoop down and take you for myself, but if I wanna do that then I've gotta work!" "How do you know that will happen?" Kanda asked, wondering why Lavi sounded so sure of all this. He felt even guiltier now, so everything really was his fault and there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. He could goad Lavi into getting over his own inner pain, but he couldn't tease the man until he gave up on working. "Because, I bet that when yer with that guy, you act like your geisha self, and not your real self. Whatever he's infatuated with, it isn't you, so he can't really love you. But I know the real you, and I love the real you... If you feel the same way, then there ain't a thing that can keep you away from me forever." Kanda found it impossible not to blush. Of this he wasn't absolutely sure, but never had either of them ever said that ever-so-power "L" word to the other seriously, not even that last time they'd really seen each other. How did he respond to that? It hadn't been covered in his training, and even if it had been, Kanda would never bother with some learned technique for dealing with love-struck customers when talking to Lavi. "I..." "Don't worry 'bout saying anything Yuu, I know you're not the best with tender words," Lavi said. Kanda blushed a shade darker, but didn't try to say anything after that. A moment of comfortable silence passed between them. "Go back to the okiya... please. Just every once in a while," Kanda said in a whisper, breaking the silence. Lavi noted the change in tone and gave Yuu a strange look. "Well, how could I not when you ask so sweetly?" Lavi said, and leaned over the table to kiss him again. 000 Kanda was still in a pleasant daze when he returned home just an hour before he knew Tyki would. He wanted to check his robs to make sure everything was still where it was supposed to be, and he definitely had to touch up his makeup... As he suspected, the kyo beni had been stolen from his lips The hour passed by quickly, as thoughts of Lavi and the okiya danced around his head. Why had he left there again? Why hadn't he just said it was too soon to move in together or something, and stayed at the okiya? With Lavi? His job didn't really mean so much to him, when he compared it to how much he cared for the people at the okiya (even if he never did tell them out loud just how much they meant to him). Kanda sighed as he moved away from the vanity, picking up the book he'd taken out of Tyki's personal library. Just as he had settled down on his bed and opened it up, someone knocked on the door. Kanda called for the person to come in, and a butler poked his head in to tell Kanda that Tyki was in the drive. Kanda nodded in dismissal, and stood back up. A few moments later, Kanda met Tyki in the front room, which was large, beautiful, and doubled as a ballroom. The older man looked just as worn as he did any time he came back from work, so Kanda put on his sympathetic face, and helped Tyki out of his jacket. Kanda let his hands linger just a bit longer than necessary on Tyki's shoulders; Komui had called doing little things like this fan service for the customer, they relished in those little, extra touches and boy, did Kanda know it. "Another rewarding day of hard work?" Kanda asked, his voice peppered with light sarcasm. Tyki sighed and rolled his eyes at the question. "Oh, it was indeed hard work, business meetings with the higher-ups are always such a pain. If only there were rewards for dealing with that fat bastard of a C.E.O.," Tyki replied, teasing Kanda with his tone near the end.

Demurely, Kanda looked away, while he inwardly thanked God that Tyki didn't actually act on his desires, which were oh-so-transparent sometimes. "Maybe you'll get lucky someday," Kanda said with a tone that said that would most likely never, ever happen, but that Tyki could still hope if he really wanted to. "Thanks for the hope-inspiring words," Tyki said with some good-natured sarcasm. "Any time." The two men made their way to the dining room, where supper would no doubt be waiting for them. In the room, already seated at the table was Allen, who was politely waiting for their arrival. He and Kanda exchanged glares the moment their eyes locked. Tyki sat across from his cousin, while Kanda sat to his right. The first course was served, and slowly the three eased into a conversation. "You were gone for a while today," Allen said, not accusing or rudely, just curiously. The boy was very good at being polite to people he didn't like; Kanda couldn't help but think that he'd have made a great geisha. Really, Allen had the looks and the personality for the job... Kanda scrunched his nose a bit at the idea of having to work with that guy. "So where'd you go?" "I visited my okiya," Kanda said simply. For a moment Tyki looked guiltily over to him. Kanda knew that Tyki had worried about taking him from his okiya so soon, they'd had that conversation before, but Kanda had assured the man that he was fine with it. Which, now that he looked back on it, was completely idiotic of him, but sometimes his mask talks for him, says the things he should even when he doesn't want to. "Oh, did you have a nice visit, Misaki-chan?" Allen asked, Tyki nodded in agreement with the question. Kanda couldn't imagine why Allen was so curious about what he'd done that day. He also realized that he sorely missed being called by his real name; he'd been "Misaki-chan" for months now. Hearing his old "family" call him "Kanchan" and "Yuu-chan" and all of those other little nicknames that he used to hate so much had seemed so wonderful today. Kanda replied with a monosyllable answer, intended to indicate a yes. The subject soon changed from him to Allen; apparently, the reason the boy was here was because he was attending school in the city, and would be living at Tyki's house for the school year. School started in a week for him. "The campus is so huge, I'm going to be getting lost there for weeks..." Allen sighed out. There had been a campus tour that afternoon, and apparently Allen had been awed by the school's size, structure, everything really. "Well, you never were the best with things like that," Tyki said simply, sipping at his soup. "Vertically challenged and directionally challenged, hm?" Kanda added, smirking just a bit. Allen huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Better to be directionally challenged, rather than gender confused." "I don't think it would be too farfetched to say you're both, Moyashi-chan." Allen gave Kanda a seething glare, which was downplayed by the pout and blush the boy was sporting. "Alright children, play nice now," Tyki said, rolling his eyes at their childish antics. Kanda, of course, didn't want to back down, but he decided to listen to his danna and quietly continued to eat his meal. Allen gave Kanda a disapproving look; Kanda was pretty sure that the reason Allen had disliked him right off the bat was because Kanda did what Tyki told him to. Allen had spent enough time around Kanda while Tyki wasn't around to know that given the choice, Kanda wouldn't do anything he didn't want to, so maybe the kid was just annoyed because Kanda was going against his own nature? But then, Kanda had a sense of duty toward his job, or more accurately his debt. He had to work hard and be the best to cover what was left of it, even if that meant bowing out of a verbal battle or two. 000 Tyki Mikk was the kind of man who always got what he wanted, no matter what it was. Knowing this about the man, Kanda was not surprised to find himself waking up in Tyki's bed one morning with a pounding headache and sore lower body. If anyone were to ask why he had finally given in and let the older man have his way, and if Kanda were to answer honestly, he would say it was a mix of two things; the alcohol and the acute pang of loneliness he had felt after seeing Lavi under some unsavory conditions. The drinking had been his fault, it wasn't as though Tyki had purposely gotten him drunk, as far as he could remember, Tyki had not forced him into anything at all. But it was seeing Lavi while at work that was what made him dive for the sake time after time. Why Lavi and the now-retired Doctor had been their at all was a mystery to him, he hadn't been paying attention when it was explained to him. All Kanda knew was that he was going to have to actually act like a geisha-Tyki's geisha- in front of Lavi. How was he supposed to act close to someone else when Lavi was right there and hardly managing to conceal his jealousy? And so Kanda had done the one thing any good geisha knows never to do; he got drunk off the sake he himself was serving, hoping that if he was a bit buzzed, he wouldn't be able to feel that lone green eye penetrating him anymore. He got Tyki drunk too, though that was because he hoped to get the man so shit-faced that he wouldn't notice if Yuu slipped up and said or did something that could be seen wrong.

So when they arrived back at the mansion drunk and Tyki drunkenly asked "Misaki" to go to bed with him, Misaki had drunkenly answered yes, because Tyki had been a good danna who had always put up with his prudence and sarcasm. Maybe the man did deserve a reward or something? Besides, he was feeling ridiculously alone after seeing Lavi. Whatever his reasoning was, Kanda found he could not get himself to think that way while sober. Sober and annoyingly hung over. That's why it was clearly the alcohol and Lavi's faults. It was Lavi's fault he'd been drinking in the first place-he didn't even like to drink- and the alcohol's fault that he'd given in to his danna. If Lavi hadn't been there, so close but completely unattainable, Kanda wouldn't have felt lonely enough to sleep with Tyki. But no matter what he blamed, Yuu still felt rather disgusted with himself. So Kanda had taken the walk of shame down the hall to the grand bath chambers of the house to take a muchneeded shower; he felt outrageously dirty. When he had finally gotten around to doing his hair and makeup for the day, he found himself being extra meticulous with both, after all he didn't want to look as hung-over as he felt. Breakfast, or rather lunch, with Allen had been an incredibly awkward affair; the boy refused to look him in the eyes, and he was flushed up to his virgin ears, which had heard just a bit too much the night before. Kanda rolled his eyes at the younger boy's reaction, and ate quietly. Well, today was going to suck. He had planned to visit the okiya today, but he definitely wouldn't be able to face his peers or Lavi after the mess he'd made of himself the night before. So goes the morning after 000 The more Kanda visited the okiya and Lavi, the more conflicted he felt about his situation. He wanted to be back home already, but he couldn't do much more than visit during the afternoons. He didn't do that very often either, because it despite how he'd chastised Lavi for avoiding the place, it really was difficult to visit the okiya and know that he didn't live there anymore. But at least that was an issue that was slowly getting resolved. Every time Kanda dropped by he was told some story or other about what Lavi had done last time he'd visited. Kanda sighed as he sat up in his bed. He still hadn't gotten used to going to sleep before midnight, and at the moment it was an hour to 12. He couldn't sleep, and it seemed he was hungry, if the low rumbling coming from the general area of his stomach was anything to go by. Muttering under his breath about getting fat from having too many midnight snacks as of late, Kanda got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed the book off of his night stand, deciding that he would read for a bit while he waited for his noodles to cook. His plans for a peaceful evening snack were crushed when he saw a certain white-haired brat in the kitchen, with far more food than could be healthy stacked around him. Kanda raised his eyebrows at the sheer amount of food on the table, while Allen stared at a Kanda who was without makeup and a kimono. "Um...Misaki-chan?" Kanda felt a bit thrown off, being called Misaki when he wasn't dressed as a geisha. Allen looked surprised to find that under the makeup and the layers of robs, Kanda did actually have masculine features. Heck, he was surprised that Kanda wore pants to bed and not some elegant, flowing yukata. Actually, Kanda had only started wearing more masculine clothes after his brother had lent him some when they went out together. Pants were nice, they were warm, comfortable, and he could take full steps in them without having to worry about tripping. Kanda looked away from Allen and walked towards the pantry; it was too late at night to start anything with the kid. Allen seemed to share that sentiment, and went back to eating until Kanda sat down at the table. "You really annoy me sometimes," Allen said. Kanda sighed feeling aggravated, and leaned back in his chair. "Do you want me to stab you with a kanzashi? Because I will shank you and I will enjoy myself while doing so." "I'm not trying to start a fight with you, Misaki-chan, I'm just stating a fact. Seriously, sometimes it seems like if Tyki asked you to jump, you'd ask "how high?" How can you stand to just let someone boss you around like that? You don't have strong feelings for him either, how could you make yourself uh share a bed with him?" Allen stared at Kanda intently, waiting for an answer. Kanda sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Doing what my danna tells me to is part of the job. And for the record, I would not jump if anyone asked me to, Tyki-san included," Kanda said, and completely disregarded the second half of the boy's question; Allen was probably too nave to understand the concept of drunken sex without emotions. Really, it wasn't as though a geisha was his danna's slave, if anything, geisha just indulged them. Kanda could easily say "no" to whatever he wanted to, but it was his job to act pleasant. "Why on earth would a person like you choose a job like this, then?" Kanda looked at Allen like he was crazy. This child was seriously nave if he thought everyone just got to pick what they did for a living. "Tell me child, are you all right in the head? What on earth would make you think I chose this? I was sold by my drunkard father when I was seven; I wasn't exactly given career options." Kanda didn't exactly care that he was giving out information about his past to someone he hardly knew, and who he knew he hated. If that little revelation could chip away even a fragment of Allen's navety, Kanda would be content; he hated nave people. Allen immediately looked deeply sympathetic, which Kanda also hated. He gave the younger boy a glower that clearly said "don't you give me that look." Allen cut down on the sympathy, but found that he couldn't look Kanda in the eye anymore. "I-I'm sorry...I suppose I shouldn't have judged you without knowing your circumstances."

"Damn straight you shouldn't have. Whatever, I don't care about it anymore, I'm content with the life I lead. Now shut up and let me eat." Kanda was thankful that he was eating cold-served soba, because if he hadn't started with a cold dish, well, it would've ended up as one anyway. "One more question though," Allen said quickly. Kanda's chopsticks stopped half-way to his mouth. He scowled and looked up at Allen. "What?" "You're...not really happy here at all, are you? I mean, you always look happier leaving this house than you ever do coming back. You don't want to be here at all, do you?" Kanda's grip on his chopsticks went slack and they fell to his plate. How? How had this...this kid, who barely knew him at all, read through his mask so easily? Something in his expression must've given him away, because Allen continued on. "I figured as much. Tyki is kind to you, and you seem to get along just fine but...you do not want to be with him like this at all. You want to be back at your okiya, with the people you really care about. If you just told Tyki, I'm sure he'd let you g-" "Don't even say that," Kanda said, stopping Allen mid-sentence. "For a geisha... to have a danna... is a great honor, a great accomplishment, and I am thankful, I am not going to be selfish." Kanda so wished he could be though. 000 Kanda was seventeen now, a year had passed since he'd moved in with Tyki, and he was finally starting to feel settled. But the mansion still felt cold to him, cold and empty. He lived for those days when he could visit the warm and inviting okiya he had once lived in. It was becoming harder and harder to see Lavi; apparently he was moonlighting as the school nurse at Allen's school. It was a swanky private academy so the pay was good, which was a good thing for both Lavi and Kanda. Yuu had heard this through Allen, who had decided it would be a good idea to reunite the two "old friends" by bringing Kanda to school with him. Needless to say, Kanda had spent the day in the infirmary; he had never imagined himself doing anything so shameless in a nurse's office until then Tyki seemed to realize that their drunkenly fooling around meant nothing, and he had acted as though nothing had happened for a long while. Then Tyki had slowly started to change, it was like he was trying to distance himself from Kanda. Yuu didn't mind, of course, but it was still a curious thing, still something to be concerned about. One particularly stormy day, when Tyki returned home, Kanda met him at his coach, an umbrella in hand. Tyki thanked him and took the umbrella from him, and they went into the warm mansion. "Misaki, I need to talk with you about something," Tyki said, and led Kanda too his room. Tyki was acting strangely, and it made Kanda uncomfortable. Still, he did his best to grin and bear it; metaphorically speaking, of course, Yuu didn't grin. Tyki motioned for Kanda to take a seat, and he did, giving the older man a questioning look. "I'm letting you go, you can return to your okiya any time you want." Kanda stared at Tyki in disbelief. Had he really just said that? Was he really going to get to go back home? Yuu felt positively elated, if not somewhat confused. Sure, he was happy, happier than he had been all year, but this seemed so random. "Um...Why, might I ask?" "Because, you simply aren't happy here, you aren't happy with me at all, as loathe as I am to admit it." "When did I ever make it seem like I was unhappy here?" Kanda asked. He wasn't angry or indignant, and he also didn't sound ridiculously overjoyed either, he was just curious. "You didn't, a little bird told me so. Said little bird also hinted that you had some dubious connection with his school's nurse, but that's completely beside the point." Kanda didn't know whether he should kill Allen or hug him. Ok, so it was thanks to the odd-looking brat that he was going to go home, finally, but there was no reason for him to tell Tyki about Lavi, either. Then again, there had been no need for Kanda to tell Allen that he did in fact have someone at the okiya waiting for him; he knew the kid was smart enough to put two and two together when Allen had seen his "reunion" with Lavi, but naturally he hadn't cared at the time. "You know, you didn't need to come here if you didn't want to," Tyki said. He didn't seem offended by the idea at all; on the contrary he was acting more like himself than he had in weeks. Kanda breathed a small sigh of relief at this. "I...suppose I could've," Kanda admitted. Kanda stood and respectfully bowed his head to Tyki. "I apologize for all of the trouble I've caused you. Thank you for having me." "No trouble at all," Tyki said, dismissing the notion with a wave of his hand. Then he looked at Kanda with the same admiring eyes he'd always worn, though they were now tinged with sadness. "But...there is one thing I'd like to know before you leave for good." "What is it?"

"What is your real name? If I can't have you, can I at least have that?" Kanda face flushed at the comment, but he conceded, after all it was the least he could do after breaking the poor man's heart. "It's Kanda. Kanda Yuu." 000 When Kanda walked into Bak's office, he was met not by the blond man or his assistant, but by Lavi, who looked very much like the cat that caught the canary. "You sure do look smug, Lavi-san," Tyki said, looking rather displeased as he walked in after Kanda. Yuu gave both of them a curious look. "Lavi's here?" Kanda questioned aloud, for he saw no real reason for the redhead to be in the room with them, instead of Bak or Fou. "Of course," Tyki said, "he's here so that the two of us can work out the transaction that will take place between us to make him your new danna." Kanda covered his mouth to stop himself from gaping in shock or smiling too widely, but it was clear from the look in his eyes that he was positively ecstatic. Once he regained his composure, he moved back to sit by the wall while the two worked out a deal that would give Kanda the happiness he wanted. 000 This time when the ceremony date came around, Kanda really did feel excited. Komui and Daisya were the first to know that he was back, of course, and they were almost as happy as he was when they heard that he would be switching dannas. Together, the three of them quickly moved Kanda back into his old room. Allen pitched in too, taking the chance to get to know the inhabitants of the okiya. They absolutely loved him. Kanda hoped the kid wouldn't start hanging around the okiya after school or something... Though, he supposed he wouldn't mind so much. The ceremony was so much happier than Kanda remembered it being. Even his brother managed to make it down in time for it. Kanda once again felt like he was getting married, which was still mortifying, but at least now he was happy with it. It took long enough, but he was finally getting what he wanted. "So, ya plan to follow me home, eh Yuu?" Lavi asked, once it was all over. Kanda nodded, acting as though he had every right to do whatever he wanted now; it sort of felt like he did. "It's only midday, what would you have me do, go back to my room and sleep?" "Well, if that's what ya wanted to do, sure. Personally, I'm more fond of the plan where you come to my place though." "Then don't complain." Kanda and Lavi reached the fence, and Lavi stepped over first, acting like a gentleman as he helped Kanda across too; his ornate clothes made it rather difficult to do anything more than take baby steps. Even with Lavi's help, Kanda still stumbled just enough to fall into Lavi's chest. The redhead couldn't tell if that was planned or not. "I'd never dream of it," Lavi said jokingly, and pulled Kanda close to him. The younger boy just looked too irresistible at the moment, so even though they were out in the open, Lavi didn't even try to stop himself from kissing Yuu. Besides, Kanda was his now, he could do that, even if still wasn't exactly decent. When he pulled away, he opened his eyes to see a blushing Kanda biting his bottom lip. "You've got no idea how happy I am right now Yuu." "I think I might have a clue." "Well, now that that's settled," Lavi started, as he suddenly and swiftly picked Yuu up bridal style, "come to bed with me, Yuu." "L-Lavi!" Kanda hid his burning face in Lavi's kimono, but made no move to escape. "You're so indecent!" "I s'pose so. Still, I told you, didn't I," Lavi said, as he walked towards his house, "nothing could keep us apart long. I love you, Yuu, and I'm glad I didn't give up on that." Kanda was embarrassed and at the same time, very overwhelmed by Lavi's feelings. Slowly, he nodded. "I'm glad you didn't give up, too." Lavi's wasn't certain of it, but he was pretty sure that he heard Kanda mutter "I love you, too" into his chest.