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Kanda stiffens but if Lenalee (the brat dammit, her name isn’t important) notices she doesn’t do anything about it. She just keeps holding him, and crying softly into his chest.
Fuck.
On one hand, he’s uncomfortable at best, and the only thing affection does for him at this point is remind him of Alma, which is just. Not good. On the other hand, she’s crying and shuddering. Which is also not good.
Mentally, Kanda curses the order for kidnapping fucking children and forcing them to fight. Not that he cares. Lenalee pulls away from him reluctantly and her eyes are red and puffy, her nose a snotty mess.
“You’re an ugly crier.” He says when she finally calms down. She flinches back at his harsh tone, but she also frowns so at least she’s not a total wimp. He hands her a handkerchief from his pocket (that dumbass Tiedoll insisted he have one on him at all times), and continues his meditation.
“At least I’m not ugly all the time like you!” His eyes snap open in surprise and his neck gives a twinge of protest at how quickly he turns to stare at the brat. She’s sticking her tongue out at him and he thinks this is probably the first time he’s seen her act her age.
“If you’re going to hide in my room, you need to shut up.” Her cheeks puff up angrily at this and his frown deepens. This was almost the opposite of meditation. Kanda quickly turns his head away (his neck gives another twinge) and tries once again to continue his meditation.
“Teach me how to do that.” He sighs in frustration but Lenalee’s voice is no longer petulant. Just quiet, and maybe a little bored.
“Sit in a cross legged position.” She shifts around and then looks back to him, wide eyed and ready to learn. Honestly, the nerve of this brat.
“Clear your mind.” She nods eagerly.
“And shut the hell up.” Her cheeks flush angrily and he wonders belatedly if it was a good idea to get a child with a very strong weapon attached to her body so riled up. Well, it’s not like it’d do much except annoy him if she does kick him.
Instead, she reaches up and pulls his hair. Hard. His lips pull back into a snarl and he’s ready to retort with some very scathing remarks and maybe a hair pull of his own, but then she does it again.
“Ow! What the fuck!” She’s grinning now and suddenly she seems less out of place at the Order. The brat has sadism down to a T.
This time he does pull her hair back.
And suddenly she’s tackling him, grubby hands tugging at his hair and digging into his ribs. Kanda, of course, gives as good as gets and soon they’re both winded and panting heavily.
Lenalee starts giggling loudly and Kanda has a flashback to another fight that ended similarly. He doesn’t laugh with her but he does let himself relax. He sits up after a few minutes and she follows suit, arms stretching above her calmly.
“You should leave now. They’ll be doing a sweep of this hallway soon enough.” That sober’s her up. Her shoulders are back up to her jawline and her lips are pursed into an almost painful looking frown.
“I hate it here!” Her voice cracks and Kanda has to stop himself from flinching. For fucks sake she’s a kid.
“Don’t we all.” Lenalee just looks sadder at this and he wants to bang his head into the wall. He never signed up for this!
She straightens out her rumpled dress and runs her fingers through her hair. She looks horrifyingly fragile like this, knowing they’re going to find her within minutes of leaving his room. Kanda will deny this until the day he finally dies, but in the heat of the moment he grabs her arm roughly and pulls her to his chest.
It’s probably not comforting in the slightest, but some of the tension leaves her shoulders and he’s glad he could at least do that. “Thank you.” Her voice is thick with tears and he pushes her away.
“Whatever. Get out of my room brat.” This, unfortunately, does nothing to deter her, as she’s giving him a big toothy grin. It’s stupid considering what’s about to happen to her.
Not that he cares or anything.