Title: Ame futte ji katamura: After the rain, the Earth hardens.

Summary: Before Kanda Yuu the exorcist there was the child experiment Alma. A what-if story of his childhood from age ten to where we are now.

Author's notes: I would like to express gratitude to anonymous reviewer 'cupcake' for the lovely and much appreciated reviewwhich helped me a lot. I tried to incorporate as much of cupcake's advice in this and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

Thank you also to MarciKupo, who's review made my day, marufu-chan, and DarkMadamRose.

For cupcake's query: Level two akuma doesn't kill by poisonous bullets so the baby was not turned into dust.

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Chapter two-Introduce yourself.

Branches slapped his face and his feet positively burned and ached from running so hard begging him to stop but he could hear faint calling behind him that spurred him on. He no longer focused on his footsteps or his surroundings working on autopilot.

Dodging trees and leaping over roots that could have tripped him up, for even in his wild grief he was strangely aware, he slowed down to a stop when he came to a stream.

Falling on his knees he stared blankly at the water. He had stopped crying a long time ago and he reached out and washed his face mechanically absently thinking that his mother would have done it for him if she was there but he was a big boy now. He glanced at his reflection to see his red eyes and his long hair that he had neatly pulled up in his customary ponytail was undone and mud streaked.

He didn't know when he fell asleep but when he awoke it was already dark, he didn't recognize the place he was in. He had not paid attention to which direction he'd run to but he figured he'd had a head start on whoever was chasing him. He didn't want to go home. There was no home for him now without otousan, okaasan, Hatake, Naoko.

It seemed like a dream. As if his family had not died and he wasn't alone in the world. It was in that state of denial that he let himself drift away in thoughts.

He remembered Hayate, always teasing him and protecting. Naoko who laughed sweetly when he made a funny face, which made him smile. Mother and father who were kind and loving yet distant. He remembered and...he didn't. He glanced around the place, the night making everything look varying shades of dark.

The only color there was, was a beautiful lotus flower which he had seen everywhere he went since he could remember. Something inside him had urged for him not to tell anyone about this strange phenomenon and he felt like if he did he would be betraying someone...important?

He tried to stir up memories of them but he came up with...nothing. Of course he remembered the year before where they celebrated his ninth birthday and the current year but years before his ninth birthday seemed to fade. He tried to recall the

birth of Naoko and found he could not, it seemed like she had been always there, why was he forgetting? Or rather, where were the memories? In the past he had never really thought about the years before his ninth, always taking for granted that there were years before that as he was a child and did not dwell on these things much.

As he was trying to recall the years before his ninth, thinking as hard as a ten year old could, a sudden memory sprung up.

Running through town, something hot on his heels. Throwing himself to the ground as bullets landed violently where he had been, he shielded his head from the resulting flying debris as best as he could. Jumping, twisting, and slashing expertly with a long black katana. The feeling of triumph when it hit its mark. Oh! The exultation of battle!

"Yaaaargh!" Yuu's eyes shot open. What memory was that? He had never been to battle let alone touched a katana, especially

not one as deadly as the one he saw. He shook his head violently until his head hurt, should he chalk it up to imagination?

But he was not a very imaginative boy and it felt too real to have been just a dream. He could still feel the faint hint of

adrenaline from the 'memory' and could still remember the hard gravel beneath. His hands clenched into fists resting on his

knees as he sat on the dirt ground akimbo.

An elderly man, kneeling to come to eye level with him. "Do you see the flower? Don't worry, it's just an illusion. The

flower is...

Is? Is? Yuu racked his mind for the answer frustrated, it was there sitting pretty just waiting to be discovered.

What did he feel now? Some horror at all the blood sure, he didn't get a very good look at Naoko but he had seen the blood and the big man in black had hidden most of his view of his brother. Grief? Yes. No. He didn't know. He felt as if he had witnessed a stranger's death than his own siblings, that he had been informed of a distant relative's passing than his own parents. He felt tired, so tired. And lonely and so very lost.

That's when it finally dawned on him, his wall of denial crumbling down. They were gone and they were not coming back. His knees gave out and he collapsed again onto the ground. His body started to tremble and his breathing came out in short hurried gasps. The dam that he had unknowingly built up around his mind to protect him from the grief burst, tears running

rivers down his cheeks as Kanda Yuu turned his head to the heavens and screamed his pain.

"Poor thing. Poor thing." Kanda's head snapped up, his tear stained face turning upwards to the source of the voice. it was an oval shaped man with a large grin. His eyes hidden behind glasses.

"I can give them back to you. Just say the word." The man crouched down to stroke Yuu's waist length hair. The boy flinched away from the touch.

"W-what? Who are you?" He asked brokenly. Back? He could have them back?

Foolish. But humans are all the same, they never understand that the dead must stay dead

"The dead must stay dead." He whispered the memory was so real! As if he had said it himself. The man drew back surprised.

"No one has said that to me before." He said "I am the Earl of the Millennium. Who are you?"

"The Earl makes the akuma by drawing out a dead person's soul and placing it in a holder, the holder's grief makes it possible. The jobs of the wielder of the innocence are to hunt down and kill them." A gravelly voice. An imposing figure. "I have my family, I want not of your akumas and your innocence." The reply was quiet, yet authoritive in a language he did not know, yet could understand. "You don't understand! The fate of the whole world is at stake! John Westen Hamstern you are hereby ordered by the pope to come with me!"

The memories were pushing back all emotion until it felt like he was in a dream. There had been a reflective glass where

Kanda had seen who was the one replying. He was tall and muscular with a clean shaven face and short brown hair, beside him Kanda had glimpsed a little girl hanging on to the man's trousers. John. That was his name wasn't it? The other man who had been talking to John wore a black uniform with a cross insignia. A word flitted across his mind-exorcist.

"I don't know." Kanda shrugged. He didn't feel afraid like he thought he should. The dead must stay dead. His family...his family...His family was dead and would stay dead. No sense mourning

The earl blinked and peered down at the boy. Sudden recognition flashed through his eyes and he laughed, oh how his laughter rang through the forest and rumbled in the boy's ears.

"Alma Karma!" He laughed "What a coincidence! But there are no coincidences are there?" He said softly patting Kanda's head.

The child stared at the man who was uncomfortably close to his face so that he could see each individual tooth in the earl's unnervingly wide grin.

"I can already feel your grief ebbing away Alma Karma. Soon, you'll be a simple mindless shell of a killing machine." He laughed, it wasn't a nice one "I wonder what they did to you child to be able to have felt such sorrow as you did. It worked though. I never imagined the Alma Karma to have emotions."

"So you've agreed?" A tall man in a white lab coat asked. "I just want to be with my family." The voice was the same as in his other 'memories'. The man nodded "Very well."

The earl drew away from the child, his glasses glinting in the moonlight "You're my very important sacrifice. I have to insure your safety don't I?" He pressed his hand to Yuu's upper left chest.

Yuu tried to jerk away but the earl's grip was vice-like "Hold still, I'll be done soon. Shhh." Yuu's eyes widened at the sudden burning sensation where the earl's hand was. He screamed at the agony, it was like someone was pressing a red hot poker to his skin. He dug his fingers into the earl's arm and held on bruising tight trying to get it off of him but his efforts were in vain. All the while the Earl was whispering what seemed to be soothing words and did not look at all affected.

Yuu's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he passed out. The earl gently placed the child on the side of the road on his stomach with his hair obscuring his face so that he looked pitiful enough for a stranger to perhaps pick him up and care for him. If he knew fate, and the Earl did, the Earl knew he would be meeting the child again. Farewell Kanda Yuu." He chuckled "Until we meet again."

~.~.~.~

"Oh my, what's this?" Tiedoll said, crouching down to a squat. He shook the child's shoulder gently "Wake up. Come on, it's not healthy to sleep out here." He said softly. The child stirred and the general was greeted with a pair of sleepy eyes the color of coal.

The child was orientally beautiful in a way an Asian was. With long dark blue hair spilling over the child's back and fanningout unto the ground and the child's slender body, The child's face mostly hidden by it's fringe, it was not wonder Tiedoll wasn't completely sure if it was a boy or a girl.

"Mmf, wha-" The child said getting up, it was most definitely a boy now that Tiedoll had gotten a better look at his face.

Tiedoll realized the boy was what that country would call a 'bishonen', or a beautiful male. The boy blinked, and then started.

He exclaimed a string of Japanese words that Tiedoll could not understand, but by the look on the child's face, the child probably was as surprised as he was at his present situation.

"Hold on, hold on. I can't understand a word you're saying!" Tiedoll chuckled, the boy froze.

"Saying-ah." He tested looking confused "Understand-ah me saying-ah."

"Froi Tiedoll." The general said, pointing to himself to indicate that it was his name "You?"

"My name is Kanda Yuu." The child said in perfect English, looking horribly shocked.

Kanda was bewildered, what was this strange language coming from his mouth? It was definitely not Japanese.

"You speak English?" Tiedoll asked. Well, well, well. This day was turning out to be full of surprises.

"English." Kanda repeated "This is English?"

"Yes it is. How did you learn the language if you didn't know that?"

The words came into his head as soon as he formed the answer in Japanese. he found that if he thought of a word in his native tongue an English word would appear immediately giving him the choice to use one or the other. It was as if he had been speaking English all his life, which he hadn't. This was all too confusing.

"What do you want?" He asked, pushing away the confusing thoughts. He could differentiate between his mother language and this new one easily though now he spoke the English with an accent. He probably was being quite rude but he didn't really

care, he just wanted to go home and not think about all these things that were starting to get a little much for him. What happened to the Earl? What did he do to him? What was he doing by the roadside?

"I'm sorry, its a little rude for me to be asking so much questions. I am a mere traveler who is quite lost. Do you happen to know where the town is?" Tiedoll said placating. He knew where it was of course but it was probably better to get on this child's good side if he was to help him any. Kanda was dirty from spending the night sleeping on the ground and looked as lost as he probably felt.

"Yes. You just follow the road and turn right at the fork." Kanda replied dazedly.

"Is your home is near here? I'm sure your parents are wondering where you are." Tiedoll said, fully prepared to accompany the child to wherever his home was.

Kanda surprised even himself when he answered "I'm a traveler too, I have no home. I'm...looking for someone." When he said it, it was as if that was his objective all along. Now that he thought about it, he did want to find the stranger in his dreams and ask him the questions he had stored up in his mind. The one whose memories he was flashing back to. The one called John. He also wanted to know who this Earl of Millennium was.

"Sounds interesting." The general smiled "Well, where're you headed anyway?"

Kanda shrugged not sure of it himself. All thoughts of his parents and his siblings were blanked over in his mind as if it were just an annoyance he didn't have to deal with at the moment. He barely even felt the slightest remnant of grief from the night before, only a sudden desire to find John Hamstern and find out what was happening to him.

"Why don't you travel with me for a while? It would be most helpful to have an English speaking Japanese guide and I would appreciate the company on the journey." Tiedoll said, standing up and offering Kanda a hand up. Kanda took it and quickly evaluated his options. Well, going back was a definitely not even considerable and so was striking it out on his own. It looked like all he could do was to move forward and wing it. Following the man who could probably help him with some answers looked like the best option.

"Okay." He said finally, glancing back at the forest "You go ahead, I'll catch up." He knew of a stream just a couple minute's walk in the forest and wanted to wash up anyway. He wondered what he would do for money when he and the man had to split. He knew of a family in the town who had known his father and owed him quite a bit of yen so he probably could collect that. Well, cross that bridge when he came to it then.

Tiedoll shot a glance at his new traveling companion. Even though the dear boy had been walking together with him for a long time now without rest he didn't complain nor show any sign of wanting to stop. He was not a particularly talkative boy though he kept his end of the conversation adequately enough for a child his age. Tiedoll drew most of the time, taking in the scenery and sights.

They came to the fork in the road like Kanda said and Tiedoll decided they could rest there. He set about building a camp

fire while Kanda quietly left and came back with a small stack of firewood without being asked.

"What is that uniform?" Kanda asked finally. Tiedoll was normally the one who initiated the conversation so it was a change from the norm.

"Well," Tiedoll smiled, looking around as if he was going to divulge a secret "Don't tell anyone but I'm an exorcist from the Black Order. All exorcists wear this."

"Exorcist..." So the stranger was an exorcist huh? Well, he still had absolutely no idea what the word meant or what the Black Order was but it was still something.

"What do you do?" Kanda asked. Tiedoll scratched the back of his head, wondering how to give the answer in the vaguest way possible "Well, we protect the world from bad guys."

"Bad guys like what?"

"Excuse me, oh thank goodness there's someone here!" A woman's voice cried out effectively interrupting the conversation,

she stepped into the light of the campfire "My family and I are terribly lost! Could you help us?" What was assumed to be her family stayed back, their silhouettes still recognizable in the moonlight.

"Bad guys like these." Tiedoll said. Bringing out a chisel and a cross from his cloak. He stood up quickly and pulled Kanda up "Go as far away as you can, hurry! Keep safe until I come back." He ordered quietly, pushing Kanda away in the directionof the woods.

Kanda nodded, understanding that the situation was severe even though he had no idea what was going on. He moved quickly to the shadow of the woods, swiftly getting away from the area.

"Where's he going? Isn't he staying to play? Running away like a coward." The woman sneered, her voice a wild sound that hurt the ears.

"He doesn't have anything to do with this." Tiedoll said firmly, he withdrew a small black cube from his pocket tossing it up and catching it again tauntingly before placing it back securely "You can come get the innocence if you wish, over my dead body that is." He said.

"Gladly." She screeched withdrawing from the light. Tiedoll activated his innocence, sensing more of the akuma with her. He crouched down, his sharp ears taking in every sound of the forest waiting until he couldn't hear the sound of Kanda's feet anymore.

"Witness the beauty of this world!" He commanded and drew the cross and rod, the rod created a spiritual chisel, linking the cross and itself together. Using the cross to knock the chisel into the ground "Art!" the result was a big hemisphere of light that totally destroyed the level one akuma which were the woman's 'family'. The woman, a level two, though severely injured was not dead yet. Tiedoll sank into a defensive crouch as he readied his innocence for another strike to end it.

"Stop! If you wish the boy alive you will put down your weapons and surrender the innocence immediately." Another level two akuma stepped into view, his fist covering Kanda's neck and lifting him high in the air. He was also injured badly but Tiedoll knew the akuma had enough in it to follow through with the threat. Kanda gasped for breath as the akuma tightened his hold slightly to make his point. Kanda could already see black dots swimming in his vision as he tried to pry the akuma's fingers off. Any sense of de ja' vu was instantly repressed by the fact that he. Could. Not. Breath!

Tiedoll's face turned grim, he knew the consequences of having non-exorcist companions for any amount of time was extremely dangerous as they could be as easily exploited as that which was why he rarely took on finders when he went on missions. But he knew what he had to do.

"So do it!" He answered completing the move that would finish them off "Forgive me Kanda Yuu. Art!" He cried out, the blinding yellow light sweeping through the forest wiping the two akuma out thoroughly. A loud snap was heard as the akuma broke Kanda's neck before it too was killed. Kanda's lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud as the screams of the akumas died out.

Tiedoll crouched down to inspect the body, Kanda's neck was in an awkward position and he had no pulse. The general hung his head, tears dripping down his cheeks and unto the ground as he gently closed the boy's wide staring eyes. He viewed all living things as precious and was a kindly soul. Even though he had just met the child he still paid him the honor of crying over the body because it was because of him that the child's life had been cut short.

He picked the child up carefully and cradled him in his arms, Kanda's head lolling limply in his arms. He could bury him in a decent grave at least. As he was walking he felt the child move. Amazed, he looked down at the boy and was shocked to find that his neck was realigning itself to its normal position and seemed to heal. Kanda suddenly gasped in air as he came back to life, breathing heavily. The boy lost consciousness again evidently alive in Tiedoll's arms.

Tiedoll lifted his head to the heavens and chuckled breathlessly. Although he knew the boy was in for an intense questioning in the morning it gladdened his heart to have witnessed it.

To have witnessed a miracle.

~.~.~

*laughs sheepishly* Well, that went better than I expected. The first part was actually a gift for cupcake who requested a 'Kanda getting over their deaths' scene which came out to something more, therefore-this chapter.

The following events are not accurate as Hoshino, the mangaka, has not really elaborated on Kanda's past so much. This is kind of AU okay? I hope this was enjoyable and whew! Over 3000 words!