Chapter 1

"Hey, Hana," a teen girl asked while sitting up from laying on the couch.

"Hey, Dusk," her companion replied looking at the other with yellow/green eyes.

"I'm bored," Dusk stated simply before flopping back down.

"I don't want to deal with people, though," Hana groaned brushing some of her green hair out of her face.

The teen sat up suddenly and looked at her friend. "Wanna go to the woods?" A huge grin came across her face.

Hana sat up and looked at the auburn haired teen. "Absolutely!" she exclaimed. They both jumped up and headed out of the lounge room.

These young women were exorcists, working for the Black Order to rid the world of Akuma and the Millennium Earl. Best friends and partners, these two were as thick as thieves and understood each other on levels that no one else would.

Going to the woods which surrounded the headquarters was just one of their many free time activities in between missions. Other past times of theirs included training, playing pranks, and stealing the kitchen from Jerry, the cook.

Most thought the two were joined at the hip, unless Komui forced them out on separate missions or they had a spat. They trained, ate and did just about everything else together. Both kept each other's secrets and never gave them away unless granted permission.

"Hi girls." A group of Finders greeted as the two girls passed them by.

"Hello." The two replied in unison giving small smiles and waves.

There were very few in the Order that Hana and Dusk didn't get along with. People also knew if they were on the immaterial liked or disliked lists that the two formed. Status on the Bookman apprentice, Lavi, was updated daily.

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Once out in the wood, Dusk took a deep breath in and held it before letting out a big sigh. "I love the fresh air! It just gets so stuffy in that place."

"Well yeah, what do you expect when you got a bunch of guys, who don't wash themselves for days on end, stuck in the same room together?"

Dusk shrugged as a reply.

Hana smirked as she watched her friend stretch out her limbs before she suddenly did a couple of cartwheels that turned into hand springs and flips and finally landed perfectly on her feet several meters away. Her movements were swift, graceful and well-practiced.

"You can't really get away with doing that in a cramped place."

Dusk beamed making her blue eyes sparkle in the moonlight which seeped through the leaves. "That is true, but it doesn't stop me from trying," Dusk giggled before turning on her heel and looking up at patchy sky above them.

Hana studied the closest person she had to a sister. From the looks of it, Dusk was very bored, and not just because they had nothing to do. Nothing had happened in so long to shake things up. They were running in circles, something Dusk hated.

Hana went on her way to look at the plants in the area, picking herbs that she knew she could use. These have always been useful during missions, if they couldn't get to a doctor right away. It has saved a few lives more than a dozen times over the years, since Hana joined the Order.

Dusk took out a throwing knife from her sleeve and threw it up into a tree. A thin wire came down from the knife and attached to the box on the back of her belt. She reached back, pushed a button, and a gear started spinning. Then she launched up into the branches.

From there she jumped from branch to branch, flipping and twirling and doing all kinds of stunts that would kill most people when they missed the landing.

"Wow, I wonder where you learned all that from?" Hana joked, looking up from the patch of plants she was picking through.

Dusk stopped and was about to give a reply when the alarm sounded.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"

It didn't take a second thought for either of them, they both headed for the gate to see what was going on.

"This doesn't happen every day," Dusk stated glancing at Hana.

Hana nodded as they exited the woods and the gate came into view. They could see the Gate Keeper had waterfalls of tears, while a young man with white hair stood before it, looking up above at the small speck on top of the gate.

"Please don't tell me…" Dusk groaned but kept up her pace.

"You've got some serious guts coming here alone…" a deep male voice carried across the yard.

"It's Kanda," Hana sighed as they stopped within ear shot.

The young man on top of the gate had drawn his sword and had the look of a killer in his eye. He was dead set on getting this over with, without asking questions first.

"W…Wait a minute!" The newcomer cried out holding his hands up in surrender. "There's been some kind of misunderstanding…"

The young man leapt down with his Japanese style sword drawn and poised towards the unusual boy's head. "Kanda!" the girls yelled in fear for the defenseless teen before them.

They watched as time slowed down while the white haired boy's left arm transformed before their eyes, blocking Kanda's attack however the arm wasn't unscathed. A long gash ran from the back of the palm up the forearm, before stopping below the elbow.

"Kanda!" Dusk scolded, stepping towards the long haired man, "You're supposed to ask questions, then kill!"

"Aren't you supposed to measure twice and cut once?" Hana teased crossing her arms over her chest. "Although in your case, it's more like cut a million times."

"…." Kanda ignored them and looked at the boy's arm. "Hey you… What's up with that arm?"

"It's an anti-akuma weapon," the boy replied holding himself well against Kanda. "I'm an exorcist."

Dusk and Hana both crept closer trying to get a better look at the stranger. His arm was something of interest, but Dusk's attention was on his face.

Kanda looked shocked, "What?" he questioned, before looking at the tear covered face on the gate. "GATEKEEPER!"

Everyone jumped at Kanda's yelling. "But well, you know!" the stone face started, "How am I supposed to tell if I can't see his insides! What are we going to do if he's an Akuma?"

Dusk's eyes widened as a spark went off in her head. 'Could he be?' she wondered. Hana didn't see it coming when her friend went towards the young man, who was beating on the stone face telling it that he was human, making the Gate Keeper cry out for him not to touch it. 'What does she think she's doing?' the green haired girl questioned.

"Hmph… no matter…" Kanda prepared to attack. "We'll know once we see his insides." A blue glow formed around Kanda's sword. "Anti-akuma weapon invocation! I'll tear you to shreds with my 'Mugen'."

Panic filled the white haired boy's voice while Dusk got in the middle of the two. "Wait! Seriously, hold on! I swear I'm not your enemy!" He held his arm out in defense. "Master Cross should have sent a letter of recommendation!"

At that, Dusk drew out a pair of knives, crossing them in time to catch Kanda's blade millimeters from the stranger's nose.

The sword-wielder looked at him in disbelief. "From the General? A letter of recommendation?"

"Sounds like a lot of work for that lazy womanizer," Hana muttered under her breath.

Dusk pushed back, removing the sword from both her and the boy's faces. "Why are you so rash, Kanda?"

"It was addressed to someone name Komui," the boy replied as a look of relief settled over him.

From Kanda's golem, a bunch of yells came from the others on the inside. Hana took this time to join her friend, who had nearly gotten herself killed. "Dusk, how could you do that? You could have been killed!"

Dusk only smiled at her friend before turning to the newcomer. "Do you remember me?" she asked softly tilting her head to the side some.

Everyone looked thrown off by the question that left the teen girl's lips. Even the stranger's expression held confusion until his silver eyes really studied her.

"If your hair was longer back then and we were a lot younger…." he trailed off while thinking back. "It's Dusk! You were in the traveling circus. You could do just about everything they had to offer at a young age. Except knife throwing?"

Kanda and Hana both looked annoyed, "They know each other?" the young woman asked with some confusion.

Kanda crossed his arms, "Because the Order really needs more circus freaks in their ranks." As Hana moved to smack Kanda for belittling her closest companion, the gate started to open.

"You are granted permission to enter the castle…. Allen Walker."