"…Happy Birthday, Yu!"

That was a voice he knew well. It may have been nine years since he'd heard it last, but Kanda would never forget what that voice sounded like. He didn't open his eyes or consciously move, but he felt his body move anyway. The feeling of the suspension liquid was one he always tried to forget, but was never quite succeeded at. So, when Alma took hold of his hand and pulled him out of it, he was grateful. Even if he wasn't wearing any clothes.

Almost suddenly, his eyes opened against his will, and his hands moved to rub at his eyes. Kanda's vision was blurry, and when he realized he had absolutely no control over his body, it occurred to him that he wasn't the one moving. His consciousness had been placed inside the memory of his six year-old self. He had no body of his own in this realm; looking down, he saw the bean sprout and sneered to himself. Of course that damn brat would get his own body… and clothes.

"Y'must have just woken up, huh?" Alma asked, smiling. "Oh! Here, I brought these." Turning around, Alma picked up a thick towel before handing it to Yu. "That stuff is kinda slimy. I've got clothes for you once you're all dry."

Kanda simply sat back and watched the events unfold. These memories were his, too. He knew what was happening, after all. Vaguely, he wondered why he couldn't hear his young self thinking, but didn't think too much of it. The mechanics of this place were foreign to him, anyway.

Yu looked down at the towel, then back up at the other boy. "Yu…?" He asked, unsure of what that meant.

"Oh…!" Alma smiled brightly, ruffling Yu's wet hair slightly. "That's the name they gave you. Yu. It's… Japanese." Pausing, Alma thought about his words for a moment before smiling again, nodding. "Yeah. Japanese. You'll remember once you wake up a little more. You've been in there for awhile. Do you need me to help you dry off?"

Allen watched the scene before him unfold with a look of confusion on his face. What was going on? The young boy before him was unmistakably Kanda, only he was about six years old, naked, and covered in some sort of… liquid goo. It was disconcerting; he wished he could just ask what was happening, but he knew he couldn't be heard. Standing up, he looked down at the two children in front of him and couldn't help but be a little smug.

"It's nice to know Kanda wasn't /always/ taller than me." He said aloud, gloating a little even though he had already known that was the case.

"Tch. Hey, bean sprout, keep your stupid comments to yourself."

Yelping, Allen jumped forward, looking around frantically. He hadn't seen the older Kanda anywhere near him, but his voice had been so close… "Where are you?" Allen asked when he couldn't find the other Kanda.

"…you can hear me?" Came the hesitant reply. It was so close that Allen jumped again in surprise, whipping around in a circle to try and see where the sound was coming from.

"Of course I can hear you. I'm not deaf. But I can't see you." Allen replied, chilled from how weird this whole thing was.

"Idiot. Yes you can. I'm right in front of you."

Blinking, Allen stared straight ahead of him, as if expecting to see the Kanda who was nineteen and not six appear in front of him.

"I'm the kid! I don't have a body here." Kanda's voice snapped in his ear after a few seconds of staring at the air.

Taking a shocked step back, Allen looked down at the young child before him. Yu was pulling a shirt over his head that was several sizes too big, one hand holding onto the pants that were falling off his hips. Alma leaned forward and tied a length of thick rope around Yu's waist to keep his pants up.

"We'll get you some clothes that fit you better once we go upstairs; you're really skinny." Alma quipped, smiling as he held his hand out for his companion. Instead, all the other boy did was blush and look down at the floor, studying his feet in the black slippers that managed to fit him despite his ill-fitting clothes.

"You were shy as a kid, huh?" Allen mused. Sure, Kanda was antisocial, but he wasn't really shy… he was too brazen to be shy.

"Shut up. I'm going to kill you once I get Mugen back."

Allen merely chuckled, walking behind the two young boys as they moved to a different room. Almost suddenly, though, the entire room got brighter, blinding Allen for a moment. Instead of being in a dark laboratory-like room, he was in a meadow. Spotting a patch of black amongst the pastels of the flower laden grass, Allen approached the boys.

"That one looks a bit like a rabbit, doesn't it?" Alma asked, before rolling onto his side to study the face of the other boy. "Hey, Yu. How do you say rabbit in Japanese?"

Yu was quiet for a moment, contemplating the cloud overhead. "…usagi." He murmured softly, turning his head to look at Alma now. Suddenly, the meadow was filled with the child's laughter; as he turned his head, Alma pulled a face, one finger at the corner of his lips, distorting his mouth comically. Yuu responded with a silly face of his own, pressing down on the tip of his nose and sticking out his tongue, which caused another round of uproarious laughter from the both of them.

Watching the two children, Allen couldn't help but laugh. "Nice face, Kanda." He expected the disembodied voice of his companion to snap at him to keep his mouth shut, but all he heard was a sigh. Maybe this wasn't something that should be intruded upon… not that it was really Allen's fault that he was here.

"Yu. Alma. What have I told you about lazing around out here?"

Allen, Yu and Alma all turned at the same time to find a woman marching toward them. She couldn't have been more than forty, although her features were sharp which gave the impression that she was older than she really was. Out of the corner of his eye, Allen watched the two boys scramble to stand up.

"Well?" The woman asked, her hands on her hips as she studied the children.

Dragging his toe along the grass, Alma managed to look up at the woman cautiously. "But… Supervisor, we don't want to fight." He whimpered, already knowing that wasn't what the woman wanted to hear.

Blinking, Allen stared at the woman. Something about the set of her face reminded him of Levrrier; he already didn't like her. "Supervisor?" He hadn't expected Komui's predecessor to be a woman… not with the attitude the church had about them.

"Yes. Supervisor Heidi Patterson. Levrrier's cousin or something."

From the way Kanda sounded, Allen could tell he severely disliked this woman. Not that Allen could really blame him, judging by the way she was currently threatening the two boys with starvation if they didn't follow orders. Yu looked downright terrified of the woman, half hiding behind Alma as he was. For his part, Alma was at least looking her in the face.

"We'll get back to work, Supervisor…" He said, one arm behind him to comfort Yu. Looking over his shoulder, he grinned at the other boy, winking, before taking his hand and pulling him over to where two wooden swords lay on the ground.

Stunned, Allen watched the two boys spar. He doubted they were much older than when he had first seen them, and yet they were fighting almost expertly. "H-how long after you… woke up… was this?" Allen asked incredulously.

Kanda was silent for a moment, contemplating before answering, "No more than a year. If that. We were both quick learners."

"Yeah… I see that," was all Allen could say as he watched the boys. Only the Supervisor didn't look impressed. She stood with her arms crossed for about fifteen minutes before stepping forward and stopping them.

"You," she said to Alma, appraising him, "you're fast. I'll have to have someone train you in agility." Turning to Yu, now, she frowned. "You're sloppy as usual, Yu. If you're not going to try your hardest, you don't deserve dinner. Now get inside so Chan can have a look at you, both of you."

As the two boys ran inside, Allen followed. "Charming woman." He commented offhandedly, starting to understand why the other Exorcist hated his given name so much. Kanda didn't respond to his remark, but Allen hadn't really expected him to. The boys ran into a room on the lower level of the old Order where a much younger Bak Chan was waiting.

Before Allen could see what Bak had wanted with the two boys, the scene changed again. Yu was nowhere to be seen, but Alma was on a hospital bed in one of the private rooms of the infirmary. He had been bound down to the bed and he was breathing heavily, as though he was having trouble with it. The Supervisor, Bak, someone Allen could only assume was Bak's father, given the resemblance, and several doctors were all gathered around the boy.

"…what's wrong with him?" Allen asked. The only person who looked even remotely concerned for the boy was Bak.

"…I have no idea. I don't remember this, I…" Yu had been present in the other memories, so Kanda had assumed these were his memories. But he couldn't possibly have remembered something he wasn't present for. That meant… "These aren't my memories… these are Alma's memories…!"

It came as a shock to him. There were things Kanda had wanted to know about his friend that he had been too shy to ask at the time. But to find out like this… this was an invasion of privacy of the only person he ever thought of as friend. It was bad enough he had to relive it, but Allen was here too. The bean sprout had no right to see such a personal moment; Kanda supposed he really didn't either, but without a body or a way to shut out the images, he had no choice.

"Turn around or something. I don't want you seeing this. This is none of your business to begin with, but I thought… these were my memories. It's different if they're Alma's. I don't want you watching."

The anger in Kanda's voice was evident, so Allen did as he was asked without question. He already felt like he was intruding, but now he felt even more like a trespasser. It was more than the anger in his companion's voice that made him do as he was told without complaint; there was something else in Kanda's voice, something… protective. Allen supposed that was what shocked him into moving; Kanda had never been protective of anyone for as long as Allen had known him.

Kanda watched in horror as Alma's struggling got worse. The boy was sweating bullets, breathing like he'd just run a marathon, and now he was thrashing on the bed. None of the people gathered around the bed moved to do anything to help, not even upon hearing the sharp pop of Alma's shoulder dislocating. Even with his injury, though, Alma didn't stop. He kept struggling and thrashing on the bed, his eyes fluttering open and closed.

"He needs the serum, just give it to him. We all know what's happening." Bak finally said, worry in his voice. Everyone else appraised him with a frown, as though he had interrupted their fun.

"Very well. Give it to him, Chan." The Supervisor said, moving so that he could reach a syringe sitting on the cart next to Alma's bed. Bak did so quickly, preparing the needle before studying the writhing boy for a moment.

"Hold him down. He needs to be still." Bak instructed. The doctors hesitated for a moment before pressing the boy down against the bed, holding him still while Bak pressed the needle into the base of his neck and pushed down on the plunger, injecting Alma with the dark liquid.

Almost immediately, the thrashing stopped. Alma's head lolled to the side, his breathing shallow. Bak set the syringe back down and reached around the boy, popping his shoulder back in place and cringing at the sound it made. "It's deteriorating. We've got to redo it…"

Bak's voice got steadily farther and farther away before the scene disappeared entirely. Allen didn't have to watch to get the gist of what had happened; even though he had turned away from the sight of Alma on the bed, he couldn't prevent himself from hearing what had happened. Still, nothing made sense. What was happening to him? What was the serum for? Allen desperately wanted to ask Kanda, but he know that was probably not a very good idea., given how protective he had gotten over his memories.

"If we're in Alma's memories… how do we get out? What's the point?" Allen couldn't bring himself to remain silent, and besides, they really should be focusing on how to get out of here. Their corporeal bodies were in danger if there were so many Noah around; the sooner they got out of here, the better.

"You think I know the answer to that any more than you do?" Kanda snapped in response. Didn't the bean sprout know that if he knew the way out, he'd be gone by now? Kanda didn't want to relive his own memories, let alone those that weren't his. But, the scene before him was rapidly changing, and until he thought of a way out, he had no choice but to go along for the ride.

Making a face, Allen turned around out of habit to face Kanda, sighing heavily when he remembered Kanda didn't have a body of his own. "Well, think. The Noah want Alma to wake up… is there anything we can do other than watch?" Allen was starting to worry about the others that Sherryl was holding captive. If only he and Kanda were around to protect them, Sherryl could be doing anything and Allen wouldn't be able to stop it. That didn't sit well with him; he could deal with whatever the Noah did, but if he wasn't there to protect his friends…

"There is nothing that can wake Alma up. Alma's not coming back. I made sure of that." Kanda replied after several moments of silence, although his words sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that more than anything. He refused to hope for the best when Alma had been dead to him for nine years. It was too much to hope for, that he would come back. It wasn't worth it to think about.

The next memory finally settled around them and Allen forced himself to turn back around, heeding Kanda's words. Allen could tell where they were without having to look around; they were in Hevlaska's room. A door creaked open and two sets of footsteps echoed off the walls of the high-ceilinged room.

"Again, Supervisor?" Hevlaska asked when she saw the woman with Alma at her side.

"As many times as it takes, Hevlaska. You know that. You have a new Innocence for the boy, I presume?" The Supervisor asked, sounding almost bored… as though she wasn't about to force innocence into the body of someone who was not an accomodator.

Hevlaska sighed softly, but produced the Innocence the Supervisor wanted. "How many times must he do this before you are convinced it cannot work?" The once-Exorcist asked before following her orders.

Heidi scowled. "Don't question me, Hevlaska! Do it!" She snapped, pushing Alma forward. Hevlaska wasn't surprised when she looked down at the boy and saw nothing but resignation in his eyes. He knew he could not avoid this.

"As you wish, Supervisor." Hevlaska's voice carried the same resignation that was in Alma's eyes. Gently, she pressed the Innocence into Alma's body. She was met with some resistance, naturally, but they both knew to expect that by now. A soft glow surrounded his body, pulsating more and more rapidly the brighter it grew; Hevlaska and Heidi both sighed. It was no good, another failed attempt. The Innocence would rip Alma apart once more, only for his body to rebuild itself later.

Allen could hear Alma thrashing on the floor, whimpers and gasps of pain escaping him regardless of how hard he tried to suppress them. He knew the Order had done this to orphans, but if what Hevlaska said is true, this wasn't Alma's first time. How could anyone be so cruel…

"…what…?" Instead of the explosion that followed the Innocence rejecting the user, the light suddenly started pulsating steadily slower, growing more and more dim until it was gone. Alma was laying on his back on the floor, breathing heavily still, but untouched. The Innocence had finally accepted him.

The memory was disrupted abruptly as the Supervisor started triumphantly gloating to Hevlaska. Allen felt sick all of a sudden when the impact of what he'd heard settled in. "I had no idea… they could do that more than once…" Allen said sympathetically. He wanted to believe it was a rumor, or that it wasn't as bad as it sounded simply because it was easier that way. But, thinking about it now… that seemed incredibly naïve of him.

"That was the benefit of the second Exorcists. The Innocence could destroy us and we'd just regenerate." The words left him before Kanda really had a chance to think about it. Normally he would just tell the brat not to talk about it or just ignore him all together. But this was a bizarre situation, one that dragged to the surface thoughts and emotions that had been pushed under for years. Given all that, it was hard to focus on keeping his tongue- or whatever it was that let him be heard in this place- in check.

Picking his head up in surprise, Allen blinked. He hadn't really expected an answer, but since he got one he figured another question couldn't hurt. "So they kept… forcing Innocence on you until it worked…?" How many times had Kanda's body been destroyed, only to be rebuilt again? Suddenly, so much more about Kanda made sense.

"Yes. Although for Alma it took longer." Dammit, there goes his mouth again, running in spite of his better judgment. But Allen was already here, he already knew more than anyone else did. Saying this didn't really make much of a difference anymore.

Before Allen could ask why, the memory changed again. This time, they were in one of the bedrooms at the Order. A weapon Allen didn't know the name of leaned against the wall; it was a long staff with a curved blade at the top, a few grooves curving out of the base of the blade itself. Allen focused on the weapon instead of what was going on in the memory, feeling Kanda watching him to make sure he was obeying his orders, despite the face that in this realm Kanda really didn't have eyes of his own.

Allen sat in silence for a long time; as far as he could tell, it was the middle of the night. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Alma laying on the bed, so he assumed the boy was sleeping. What was the point of this memory? It wasn't until Allen heard Kanda murmuring that it occurred to him that this wasn't just a memory of Alma sleeping.

"Get up, Alma… get up…" Kanda was murmuring, over and over, so faintly Allen could barely hear him. Almost as soon as Allen had caught on to what Kanda was saying, he heard the bed start to rattle, sounds of choking filling the room. "Fuck!"

Upon hearing Kanda yell, Allen whipped around to see Alma in the middle of a violent seizure, shaking the bed hard enough to push the headboard into the wall. His fists were clenched in the sheets and his whole body was thrashing; no wonder he had dislocated his shoulder the first time.

Helplessly, Allen watched as Alma's seizure continued for several minutes before stopping as abruptly as it started. Hiccupping, the boy sat up, wide awake now, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He barely had a moment to catch his breath before he leaned over the bed and threw up, coughing miserably once he had finished. Wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand, Alma looked down and stared at the mess on the floor. Instead of the contents one would usually expect to find, smooth, dark liquid was in a puddle on the floor. Even in the dim light, Allen could tell something wasn't right; it was far too dark to be anything natural, but it wasn't thick enough to be blood. And besides that, it looked purplish, judging by the light coming in from the open window.

However, before Allen could ask just what the hell was on the floor, Alma gasped and scrambled to the opposite end of his bed, eyes wide and scared. His hand was clutching at his heart through his nightshirt; Allen could just barely make out the mark of a tattoo similar to Kanda's peaking over the top of his shirt.

"…what just happened to him?" Allen asked after several minutes of silence while Alma struggled to catch his breath.

"Tch. He had a seizure, idiot. What do you think happened?" Kanda sniped, pointing out the obvious to avoid the details.

Growling a little, Allen turned his head on the direction of Kanda's voice. "Well, obviously! Don't give me a stupid answer like that; I saw what happened."

"Don't ask a stupid question and you won't get a stupid answer. Besides, didn't I tell you NOT to look?" Kanda ended the conversation right there; he was not about to discuss something so personal with someone who didn't need to know. Alma had a seizure; that was all Allen needed to know. After giving the other Exorcist a few moments, just to make sure he was really going to shut up, Kanda allowed himself to think about what he just saw. Watching the scene unfold shocked him probably more than it shocked Allen; he had no idea Alma had been experiencing the Rejection so completely. He had his moments, years ago, but they had never been so violent, nor had he ever gone so far as to puke up the serum.

The memory changed slowly now surrounding the two Exorcists in complete blackness. They could hear the next memory coming before they saw it. It was far away at first; Allen could make out what sounded like several people all whispering frantically, and something that sounded suspiciously like bones breaking. As the sounds got louder and louder, Allen was able to make out more of what was going on. What he had initially thought were whispers were actually people yelling for help, pleading to be spared. Someone asked what had happened, where they had gone wrong. The experiment was perfect, one voice said, how could he have rejected it? Nothing made sense to Allen; all he knew was that several people were being killed, one by one.

Heavy footsteps came next, and that was all Allen could hear. Heavy footsteps, like someone running, and sharp, gasping breaths as if whoever running was out of air. Tense, Allen focused hard on everything he could hear; the running lasted for only a few seconds before slowing down. Finally, another voice spoke.

"Calm down, Alma… we've got another injection ready for you, and you'll fe-" The man's voice cut out, the sound of him choking drowning out the rest of his words. Choking turned to gurgling, and Allen could only imagine that meant he was now choking on blood. Seconds later, the heavy thump of a body hitting a stone floor was heard, making Allen wince.

Almost simultaneously after the body hit the ground, Allen could see. Alma was standing over the body of Bak's father, his Innocence and clothes covered in blood. But that wasn't the most unsettling part; it was Alma's eyes. They were dark, hardened in a way that Allen had only seen in the eyes of-

"SUPERVISOR!!" Allen's thoughts were disrupted when Alma screamed and suddenly ran out of the room. Cursing in his head, Allen took off after him, recognizing instantly where he was going as he followed the boy through the halls of the Order to the office that had come to be Komui's.

As they passed the main hallway, Allen happened to glance down it. When he did, he nearly stopped running out of shock. The floor and walls were covered in blood, the bodies of at least a dozen Finders and scientists scattered about like rag dolls. All this was the work of the nine year old he was now following? Alma had seemed so sweet in the previous memories he'd been shown; he must at least be more than a murderer for Kanda to have such strong feelings for him. Nevertheless, Alma was already out of sight. If he wanted any answers at all, Allen knew he'd have to catch up quickly.

Rounding the corner to the Supervisor's office, Allen was in time to watch Alma throwing himself against the door which had apparently been barricaded from the other side. The boy looked almost feral as he threw himself into the door, screaming for the supervisor, murder in his eyes. Allen was surprised at how strong someone so young and small was; the wood was already cracking around the hinges. A few more minutes of this and Alma would be through the door and into the office.

Over the sounds of Alma's body slamming into the door, Allen could hear Yu's soft voice from the other side of the door. He couldn't hear what was being said, but Yu sounded like he was pleading with someone. Stepping forward, Allen went to the door and pressed his ear against it, intent on hearing what was being said. Instead of pressing his ear against what he thought was a solid wooden door, he tumbled through it, nearly losing his balance as he fell through to the other side.

The Supervisor was standing a safe distance away from the door, her hand curled around Yu's forearm, holding him next to her. "That is enough, Yu. You will do as you're told." She snapped, shaking the small boy. Surrounding her were scientists and Finders, as well as Renee Epstein, Bak Chan and old man Zhu, each holding onto a talisman. Allen couldn't believe they needed all this just to contain Alma; where were the other Exorcists?

It only took Alma a few more tries before the wood cracked around the hinges and he was able to tear the door away from the wall. Vaguely, Allen wondered if inhuman strength went along with the powers one had as a second Exorcist, but knew better than to ask.

"Supervisor…" Alma hissed when he stepped into the room, his bloodthirsty gaze focused directly on the woman across from him. Before he could even move, the people surrounding the Supervisor activated their talismans, trapping Alma where he stood.

Smirking now that she was safe, Heidi stepped forward, shoving Yu in front of her. "You've been awfully disobedient, Alma. That's too bad; you were the first successful second. We had high hopes for you. But it looks like the experiment has failed." Crossing her arms, she leaned over and nudged Yu forward. "You heard what I said, Yu. Alma is no longer allowed the title of Exorcist; he is useless to us." Pausing, Heidi let her smirk grow wider.

"Kill him."