Let Me In Chapter 1 - A Ghost Town, A Lost Cat
Kanda walked down a desolate tunnel of an abandoned town in Southern Italy, the thud of his boots echoing along the mossy stone walls with each step. In the distance at the end of the tunnel, he saw a soft blue light while the sound of dripping water reverberated through the empty city. "I'm nearing the fountain", he thought to himself as his footsteps brought him closer to his target. The mission assigned to Kanda Yuu was yet another recovery of innocence, which he of course chose to go about alone. He figured he didn't need anybody, particularly the bean sprout and the annoying rabbit, to slow him down again. He would fare just fine on his own, so he thought.
Rumor had it that there was a town on the edge of Southern Italy that was completely deserted by all life and water. Over the years, the city slowly exhausted all of its resources, and so the citizens were forced to leave. Even so, to this day there stands one fountain at the center of the once vital city that still lives. Day and night it continues to flow, even though all central water mains were said to have been shut off decades ago. It could be nothing else but innocence, God's gift of power to the humans.
"Let's just get this over with already", Kanda sighed to himself in his "ever-so enthusiastic" tone. He finally reached the end of the tunnel, arriving at a sight that stopped him in his hurried path. In front of him was an open area, directly in the center of the city, in the shape of a circle. The walls and buildings along the circumference of this circle were long destroyed, dilapidated, forgotten. The stone floor itself was slowly eroding by the force of nature and lack of care. The same applied to the rest of the forsaken town, all except for one feature, the fountain.
The incandescent light of the moon reflected itself in the water that cascaded from three tiers of beautifully carved stone. The water somehow, though never refilled due to lack of a central water main, never ceased to flow from the top tier, the tier that held the innocence. The precious stone sat resting in a stone cupid's small hands.
The entire area seemed strangely ephemeral. It was as if this work of art were surrounded by a protective shield, that kept the cruel effects of time and nature from tainting its beauty. "Just a fraction of the mysteries of innocence", Kanda thought as he regained his composure, and resumed his business. He swiftly hopped onto the third tier, and removed the innocence from the cupid's hands. And as he did, the water finally stopped. As he landed on the ground he thought to himself that it was such a shame there was not a soul in town to witness such a wonder before it had to end.
Or was there?
He felt the presence of another nearby and instinctively moved his hands to sheathe his weapon, silently scolding himself for not being able to sense it sooner.
It was getting closer.
Removing his katana, Mugen, from its holder he turned around and took a defensive stance. Kanda scanned the area with his blood boiling, dark-eyed glare, until it fell upon a... tiny feline.
A small silver tabby kitten made its way to his feet, that were still in defensive position, and nudged her delicate head against his calves, seemingly unaware that he could have easily harmed her. The exorcist sighed his hundredth sigh of the night, dropped the stance, and picked up the tiny being. He had always had a soft spot for cats. He scanned the area just to assure himself that they were alone. The cruel, cold, aloof, Kanda Yuu had a reputation to uphold. He could already imagine his red and white head pests back at HQ taunting him for being a "cat lady".
He inwardly cringed.
Nonetheless, he pulled from his inner pocket of his uniform coat, a roll of bread he had been saving and offered it a piece. The innocent ball of fur looked up at the male with big, grateful, grey-blue eyes, and happily accepted the gift. After the kitten finished her meal, she happily purred against Kanda's lap, while he raised his rough hand to pet her head. Unfortunately, Kanda knew he couldn't bring this charming female with him back to the Dark Order's headquarters, in fear of taunts from his colleagues. So instead he settled for bringing it with him to the next town where she could find a new owner. It was a terribly unusual thing for him to do, but he had to. A human, he could easily leave in this place without losing a blink of sleep, but a kitten? Something as innocent and defenseless as a kitten would be a crime to leave to fend for herself. Kanda set her down, and began to walk, and much to his pleasure, she happily strolled behind him.
They had reached the perimeter of the city when suddenly, he heard the kitten begin to hiss and meow angrily. He turned to calm it down, only to see it's back and tail raised, paws and claws outstretched to attack. At first glance, he had thought that it was reacting towards him, but instantly he felt the presence of something else with them.
Akuma.