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Johnny didn’t understand why everyone was so afraid of Kanda. Outside of the exorcists, Chief Komui, and select members of the Science Division such as himself, it seemed like the entire Order went out of their way to stay clear of the sword-swinging samurai. When Johnny had posed the question to Allen and Lavi one afternoon while they were eating lunch, Allen had replied that “Kanda's personality was to people what too much salt was to food: Something that most people couldn’t stand and generally tried to avoid at all costs.”
Most of the time, Johnny just thought that underneath all of the anger and intimidation tactics, Kanda just looked…sad. There was a distance in his eyes that took the edge off of his tense posture and the heat out of his words; it was a certain level of defeat and resignation that was absolutely disturbing to witness in a man like Kanda. The more he thought about it, the more Johnny thought that Kanda reminded him of a cactus: Lots of not-so-nice spines and prickly things surrounding what was ultimately a nice little plant that grew out of a not-so-nice environment. And if Kanda was a cactus, all Johnny had to do was figure out how to work his way around all of the thorns.
Unfortunately, this was one of those things that was easier said than done. Luckily if anything could be said about Johnny, it would be that he was at least as stubborn as Kanda was standoffish, so all Johnny had to do was outlast the temperamental innocence-user. Whenever he crossed paths with the ornery exorcist, he would always make sure to offer the young man a cheerful smile and well-wishes for his day, and while progress was slow, he was making some progress. And as long as he was taking steps forward, Johnny didn’t care how long it took. He thought that he had all the time in the world, never thinking that someone as obstinate as Kanda Yuu would ever just be…gone.
After the disaster at the North American branch, the church declared the young man ‘killed in action.’ And while Johnny didn’t believe that for a minute, he also couldn’t blame Kanda if he had decided to walk away from the Order after the death of his childhood friend. The pain and suffering that the second exorcists had lived through was beyond sickening—it was an atrocity on the same level as the actions of the Earl; the Order should have been better than that, and yet the Thirds had been born too. As it was, Johnny had nightmares for months after he and Reever returned home to the European branch; he couldn’t even imagine how it was that Kanda or Allen had ever managed to sleep after everything they had been through.
When he made the decision to leave the Order to search for Allen, Johnny promised himself silently that he would do whatever it took to support his friend and ease the heavy burden that had been placed on his too-young shoulders. He felt as if he had failed Kanda; he certainly wasn’t going to allow himself to fail Allen too. So as Johnny found himself trapped and cornered by the CROW, the weight of a second failure threatened to overtake him. But then with the shattering of the window on the train, Kanda literally flew straight back into his life and needed his help (not to mention that the young man was thrilled that Johnny was a fugitive from the Order).
Traveling with Kanda is…an experience. Whether it’s a good one or a bad one is a judgement that Johnny was withholding for a later date. It was strange though, over the past week the scientist had picked up on a noticeable shift in the exorcist’s behavior toward him; Kanda no longer flinched if Johnny accidently reached out to him too suddenly; he didn’t snap or yell quite as often either (or at least direct his anger toward Johnny when he did); and so long as the situation didn’t call for killing akuma or beating up the less-savory members of humanity, Kanda actively encouraged Johnny to take point. If that wasn’t a sign of the impending apocalypse, he wasn’t sure what was.
After an evening of bar hopping in the red-light district in hopes of catching a lead on their white-haired friend and subsequently falling asleep in and being kicked out of the 59th bar of their adventure, the intoxicated duo stumbled out into the heart of the town, Kanda leaning heavily against the smaller man who was swaying and humming merrily, troubles momentarily forgotten as they searched for a vacancy at one of the inns.
At the third inn, they finally found an empty room, the innkeeper eyeing the two of them warily as he handed the room key to the less-tipsy Johnny. Expending more effort than should have been necessary, they managed to climb the narrow staircase up to the second floor of the establishment, Johnny fumbling with the lock on the door while simultaneously attempting to keep Kanda from falling face-first onto the floor of the hallway.
He successfully opened the door on the second try, after having dropped the key the first time and nearly letting his companion fall over backwards, and led the swaying samurai into the small room, only to find a solitary bed in what should have been a double room. There wasn’t even so much as a chair that one of them could sleep in for the night. Groaning loudly to himself, Johnny couldn’t help but wonder if this was part of a huge conspiracy against him. Though this did explain the odd look that the innkeeper had given them.
Depositing his bag and Kanda’s sword off to the side of the door and maneuvering the taller man onto the bed and propping him against the headboard, Johnny worked Kanda’s boots off of his feet before pulling the coat off his semi-conscious companion and unceremoniously tipping him shoulder-first into the bed. With Kanda situated, Johnny began working on his own shoes, nearly falling over twice before he finally had the thought to sit down on the bed beside Kanda’s crumpled form lest he hurt himself.
“He…would’ve liked you, y’know…” Johnny jumped slightly at the unexpected voice, staring at the samurai over his shoulder.
“…who would’ve, Kanda...?” He said, suddenly feeling sober in spite of the alcohol-induced haze that he knew he must still be in. But Kanda had already dozed off, snoring lightly as his chest rose and fell. With a soft smile, Johnny rolled Kanda into a vaguely sleep-like position before slipping into bed next to him, sleep overtaking him within minutes.
Sometime in the night, moonlight streaming in through the window, Johnny awoke with a heavy arm draped across his midsection, hot breath hitting the crook of his neck. A peaceful sensation filled him, and he sank deeper into the protective warmth of the body behind him, the arm around him tightening ever-so-slightly as Kanda curled around him. As Johnny drifted back off to sleep, a single name sighed its way out from between Kanda’s lips. “Alma.”