A/N: Oh. My. Gosh. Let me just say that I never expected getting 3 followers, 2 favourites and 2 reviews this fast. I mean, I just posted up the prologue! Still you have no idea how long I was jumping up and down yelling "Yay!" and " Hallelujah!" over and over again. I want to thank fullmetal96100 for being my FIRST reviewer and favouriter. Also rini24, animefreakv23 the beast, iluvhamster and TheBlackBloodPrincess for reviewing, favouriting and/or following my story. Thank you so much. Seriously, if I could, I would find you and I would hug you (in a totally not creepy-stalker way).

By the way, a shuriken is a ninja star. I just found it cooler to say "Shuriken" ;)

Chapter 1

"Innocence Activate!" I yell, thrusting my hand upwards. My metal bracelet enlarges to become a sharp shuriken. It slides off my wrist and falls into place in my hand. "Guilty Jacks!" I shout. The shuriken is made out of a deck of metal cards and all four jacks start to glow. Not only that, but the men on those specific cards start to smile wickedly.

I sling the shuriken towards the enemy. Akuma. There's not a lot of them and they're only level twos, so I know I can take this on by myself. I call out to the finder helping me, "Hey, don't worry, I got this one. Just take the innocence somewhere safe."

My shuriken starts circling itself around an akuma at an unbelievable speed but not slicing it. This is because the attack "Guilty Jacks" attacks the akuma mentally, not physically. One by one, as the shuriken circles an akuma, it explodes.

Guilty Jacks is an attack that finds the guilt and remorse the soul inside the akuma carries. It brings out its sadness but also gives the soul hope and power. The power is fleeting but it's enough for the soul to break free of the akuma's body and finally rest in peace.

The shuriken whips back to me as I hold out my hand. Kind of like a boomerang. I call out my next and most frequently used attack, "Royal Annihilation". With that I charge forward before jumping off to be level with the akuma. Here comes the fun part, I think to myself. I slice the akuma in half and watch it blow up. A grin slowly spreads across my face. Yep, it most definitely is the fun part.

Akuma after akuma I cut in half and once they're all destroyed, I jump back on the ground. My anti akuma weapon shrinks itself into a miniature shuriken around my wrist, making it resemble a bracelet. Piece of cake, I think. I skip to the finder waiting on the sidelines. Toma is his name.

"The job's done! What's my next assignment?" I ask him.

"There are some affairs that branch leader Reni wants to discuss with you. So you can just head back to the North America Branch." He says.

"What kind of affairs?" I ask. Seems like I'm full of questions today.

"I have no idea" he replies.

I look at him for a while just lost in my world of questions. What could she possibly want to talk to me about? Well, guess I won't find out till I get there.

"Then, come on! We have to get there fast!" Who knows, maybe she'll have some candy for me there too. My mouth can't help but water at that thought and my eyes get a certain twinkle. Oh, and I guess I'm curious as to what she wants to talk about as well.


"Hey there, Reni!" I say cheerfully as I enter her office. Reni is the Director of the North American Branch of the Black Order. I've been staying at this branch for over a year now but only up until recently was I able to go out and fight akuma. The innocence in my cards were weaponized soon after Suman introduced me to everyone here. For most of my stay here, the others wouldn't let me get into dangerous situations. I've been training and getting to know how to control my innocence ever since it got weaponized. I was pissed when they wouldn't let me go but they said it was to protect me.

"Ayame, I know you want to fight. I understand. It's what all exorcist's live for, but we're losing more exorcists everyday and we can't afford to lose you and let you risk your life before we're absolutely certain you're ready." Reni sighed, I knew what she was saying made sense but now I was an exorcist. It's my job to fight. I can't just forget what they did to the bar. To my friends.

"Just train for now, you'll be ready in no time." This time it was my turn to sigh. She does have a point. I decided to bid my time and become stronger before going out to the battlefield.

"Hello, Ayame. How was your mission?" She asks me.

I reply with a nonchalant, "Not bad."

"Well, Ayame, how would you like to come to headquarters with me? It's a visit that's long overdue for you."

If I was chewing gum right now, or if anything was in my mouth, I would have choked. Really?! I'm finally going to headquarters? Of course I'd like to!

"Good, then it's settled. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning," Oh, did I say that out loud? Oh well. "There's a meeting at Headquarters. General Cross has finally returned after disappearing for four years and a group of exorcists have finally come back after a battle in Noah's Ark: Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, Yu Kanda, Arystar Krory, Chaoji Han, and Lavi Bookman. I'm going to be there to discuss what to do next. I'd like you to come along because you should finally get to know your comrades, no? Well then, go get packed. I'll see you in the morning."

See, if she were to tell all that a few months ago, I wouldn't have understood what she was talking about. General Cross? Never heard of him. He disappeared? I didn't know. Noah's Ark? All I know is that's it's what carried all the animals once.

I guess since she told me to leave I won't be getting any candy. I pout. Aw, I really wanted some. You'll never find someone with a sweeter tooth than mine.

I stroll out of the room, happily humming to myself. I'm going to headquarters~ I'm going to headquarters~. Nothing could ruin my happy mood. I go over what she said in my head: ... a group of exorcists have finally come back after a battle in Noah's Ark: Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, Yu Kanda, Arystar Krory, Chaoji Han, and Lavi Bookman.

I stop walking. Hell, I stop moving altogether. Did she say Yu Kanda? No... It can't be him. Can it? My eyes begin to water just thinking of him. Damn it, don't get so emotional. I'm glad no one else is in this dark hallway with me. My pride would be shattered.

The walk to my room is silent. As it should be, since I'm alone. But no, it's more. I refuse to even think of much right now in fear of my thoughts turning to him. Even while packing all my belongings I'm silent. No words and no thoughts.

Yu Kanda. It's a common name. There's no need to act all weird over just hearing the name. In no time am I back to my normal self.

Oh no, I think, I need to say bye to the science department. Most of the time not spent training was spent at the science department. They teach me all sorts of stuff. Now I know enough to actually work there. Or so they say. I sometimes even act as their assistant.

Somehow thinking of the science department makes me think about Suman. I haven't talked to him in a long while. He left shortly after taking me here. I still haven't thanked him. I hope he's alright.

My stomach growls in hunger. Oh, I guess I should go get dinner. Humph, if Reni gave me some candy maybe I wouldn't be as hungry. At the cafeteria, I make sure to get a LOT of desert. Cakes, cookies, candy... Mmmm... Yum. I also grab some soba and sweet pepper tempura. I can never go without them, since they're my favorite foods.

I wonder if Yu still likes soba, I muse. And then I freeze. If I think about him, I'll miss him and that'll cause me to break down crying.

I eat lunch with some other scientists, telling them about the good news. Although they're as happy as I am to see me go to HQ, I can tell they don't want me to leave. Some part of me doesn't either. I have a feeling that once I enter HQ, the comfortable feel-at-home feeling I have here will be gone.

Time has passed by quickly and now it's morning. I grab my belongings and rush to meet Reni at the gates. "Ready to go?" She asks me.
I give her an eager nod with a certain glow in my eyes.

We take a carriage ride to the port where we'll take a boat to Europe. Europe... Wow. I can't imagine it, I'm going to go to Britain. I'm going to go to Headquarters. I'm going to see Yu. Yes, I thought about him. I do miss him. When was the last time I talked to him? Ten years ago, I believe. He was not only my cousin but my childhood friend. To think that I might see him soon...

But what if it's not him? I can't get such high hopes. Then whatever, I should just put up a brave face and deal with it accordingly.

I wonder what the other exorcists are like. I hope they're not stuck up and mean. I fiddle with my shuriken bracelet. It's something I started doing since last year every time I'm nervous.

In no time are Reni and I on the boat. Unfortunately I realize that boats aren't my thing. In only a couple minutes I find out that I get seasick easily. I spend my entire trip hanging my arms on the railing and trying to stop the swaying motion of the boat. Man, this was supposed to be a trip I could enjoy.

Renny comes onto the deck with some medicine for me. She has a sympathetic smile on her face. Wait. There's more than that on her face. She seems kind of guilty. I can't help but wonder why. She hands me the medicine and before I can question her, she starts talking.

"Guess what? It seems that that Allen Walker kid can make us a gate to take us to headquarters immediately." She said lightly.

I process this slowly, "Does that mean we could've been there days ago without me living in this torturous hell of a boat?" I ask. My eyebrows twitch.

"Correct. Now follow me. The gate is supposed to appear in my room." She says as she starts walking towards the door that leads away from the deck. I take one last look longingly at the railing which I had been clutching for the last three days as if my life depended on it. Technically, in my point of view it did because the seasickness was killing me. I hope I didn't kill some marine life with my puke. Gosh, that's gross. Can that really happen? I'm sorry poor fishies.

Reni's room is much like my own. Not that I go into mine much since I can't sleep on this wretched death boat. Just as she said, a few minutes later a gate does appear. Well, I assume it's a gate since this is where it's supposed to come and it looks like the work of an exorcist.

We look at each other simultaneously, nod and then step in. The inside of the ark kind of surprises me. It looks like a greek village. Or maybe I'm just saying that because of the white colour of the buildings. The whole place is slanting upwards (or downwards if you think about it) and at the very top lies a white tower. This place is nice, peaceful. It's very bright and sunny here, although I'm curious as to what happens at night. Does it stay like this? The sunshiny light? Or does the moon come out and bathe the city in its silvery glory?

There's a piece of paper with a drawn arrow on it. It points to the left and so we follow. After quite a few arrows, there's another door with a sign that says "Headquarters" on it. My heart starts to beat faster. This will be where my life will change. I mean, it changed when I got to the North American branch but now... The foreboding feeling I had before comes back. My life will seriously turn around. And I know I won't be able to go back. Somehow I have a feeling I don't have a choice, as if this was all planned out for me. Aw man, I think too much. I'm gonna have the time of my life here!

Reni opens the door and holds it open for me to go in first. I smile at her nervously before exiting the ark and entering my new home. Wow. It's similar to the North American branch in areas such as colour and the general way it's decorated but unlike that branch, headquarters seems more elegant. The ceilings are high vaulted and the elevator seems very developed.

"Oh good, you guys made it" says an official sounding voice. I turn in the direction of said voice to see a man in a white Black Order uniform. He also wears a white beret. In his hand he carries a clipboard. That's not all he has in his hands, there's a cup of coffee in his hands as well. It's surprisingly cute and absolutely out of place with everything at Headquarters. His hair is long and up to his shoulders with a black colour. Only this black has the slightest of a blue tinge. His hair is unlike my own. Mine i sup to my waist and straight while his only goes down to his neck and curves out at the end.

"The meeting will start soon, Reni, so you can come with me," he says and then turns to me with an apologetic expression, "Unfortunately, the meeting is for higher-ups only and includes classified information, so you can't come. That's alright, I'll get..." He looks around the room before grabbing the second closest person and pushing him closer, "Johnny here to show you to your new room!"

I don't get why he didn't pick the closest person, but I can hear him mutter to himself, "I can't let Bak-chan take her to her room... It's too close to my precious Lenalee's room..." The Beret Man leads Reni away from me. Huh.. He didn't introduce himself. I guess I didn't either.

"Sorry, that's Komui Lee. He's the Head Chief of the Black Order. He's got a lot on his mind, all with Leverier showing up. Introducing himself probably slipped his mind." Says the guy named Johnny. It's like he read my thoughts. I find it adorable that he apologized for him. He's cute in a nerdy type of way. Aww, I just want to pinch his cheeks. "I'm Johnny Gill, a member of the science division!" At this he holds out his hand.

I smile before replying, "Nice to meet you, Johnny. I'm Ayame Tsukino" I have to move one of the bags I'm carrying from one arm to the other so I can shake his outstretched hand. His hands are soft, while mine must be calloused from holding on to the boat railings so tightly.

I've introduced myself and shook his hand, but I don't take the initiative to start a conversation. Sometimes I hate how shy I can be.

Oh come on, you were yourself with everyone from North America's Branch, my inner voice tells me.

Yeah? Well, that was after weeks of getting to know them, my second voice argues.

Johnny scratches his head, slightly messing up his hair which is tied into two low pigtails (?) that puff out, and then says, "I don't really know if you have an assigned room... But there's one free next to Lenalee's! I'll show you to that one!" He starts walking ahead before I can nod.

He had interrupted my thoughts but now my thoughts wander to an important task I have to do before I can sit back and relax in my room. First and foremost, I have to find out if Yu is really here. And if he is, I have to see him.

"U-um, before that..." I start but falter. I repeat it with more strength in my voice. "Before that, do you know if there's someone named Yu Kanda here at Headquarters? He should, " and I say 'should' since I really don't know what he looks like now, "have a hair colour similar to mine and a rotten attitude."

"Kanda? Yeah! He's at the infirmary right now," Infirmary? Don't tell me he got himself hurt. That idiot. "I can take you th..." At that moment someone taps him on the shoulder and talks to him quietly. I hear words such as Lab 5 and the Egg. "... Or I can show you how to get there!" I nod and he gives me the directions. With that he waves bye to me and runs towards the person waiting for him.

My heart thumps loudly in my chest. I haven't realized how much I was longing for a familiar face. From back when I was a kid. Back when my parents were alive. Back when life was good.

Finally I reach my desired destination, the only thing separating me from Yu is this door. With that thought in mind, I swing the door to the nursery open.

"Yu!" I call out in joy.

A/N: Did you guys like it? I hope you did. Comment and tell me what you think (or inform me of any mistakes)! I'm hungry... I'll have some ice cream now! (Even though that certainly won't satisfy my hunger but mmmm... ICE CREAM...) When I finish this story, I'll give everyone who read it imaginary ice cream to celebrate! But before that, I'll need to know your favourite flavor! Why don't you tell me in the comments? Along with your merry reviews!

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