When I woke up, I saw an old man standing over me, holding acupuncture needles. I shuddered. I hate needles. I looked around the room. The boy that seemed concerned about me in the fight with the monster was sitting in a chair, asleep. On the other side of the room, there were two men talking- no, shouting at each other. They were the ones that fought the monster.

"You slowed us down, retarded rabbit!" yelled the man with the katana.

"I'm sorry, Yu! Just calm down!" the red-haired boy exclaimed.

"How many times do I have to say it? Don't call me Yu!"

The man with the needles shouted at them. "Quiet, you two! The girl is awake now. She took a hard hit to the head and she doesn't need to hear you fight." He looked down at me and offered his hand. "Hello. Those two are Kanda and Lavi. The one asleep in the chair is Allen. You may call me Bookman."

I took the hand and sat up.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You are at an inn not far from the street we found you," Bookman replied.

"What happened to my body when that thing attacked?"

Kanda spoke up. "That thing was an akuma. Living machines that kill humans. The more an akuma kills, the stronger it gets."

"Oh."

Bookman answered my initial question. "Your body contains Innocence. Innocence is also known as an anti-akuma weapon. It has the power to kill akuma. Each Innocence has different abilities. Yours can harden your skin and make it unbreakable. That is all I can tell you at the moment. And your name is?"

I stood. "My name is Marie."

The boy sleeping in the chair suddenly jumped to his feet. "Marie?"

I stepped back. "Yeah. Do I know you?"

"It's me, from the circus?"

"Red? God, it is you!" I laughed. "What happened to your hair? And your eye? What happened?"

"Most people call me Allen now," he said. I haven't seen him in five years. But, of course, the dude with the ponytail had to go and be that guy.

"You two know each other. Great. Bean Sprout can introduce us later. We need to get back to Headquarters.

Allen glared at Kanda. "It's Allen. My name isn't Bean Sprout. Or do you not have enough brain cells to remember?"

That boy Lavi pulled me away from the other two. He grinned. "I think you should get as far away from those two as possible if a fight breaks out. We wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire."

I rolled my eyes. A flirt. How wonderful. I jerked my arm from his grasp. "I can take care of myself. We can spar if you don't believe me, Joker Boy."

He held up his hands in mock defeat. "I can believe that. It's Yu's sword I'm worried about."

"Well, if you will excuse me," I said as I walked to the two arguing boys. If I have unbreakable skin, then this should be easy. I grabbed them both by the hair and threw them to their knees.

"Amateurs, the both of you!" I shouted. "You two are fighting like a couple of toddlers. Grow up, will you?"

I let go of their hair and they hit the floor. "If you want to fight, fight fist-to-fist like men."

I mumbled under my breath, "Why do boys insist on being total idiots?" as I walked out to get some air.

I stepped outside on a small balcony overlooking the town. I leaned on the rail, deep in thought. After a while, I turned around to go back inside only to run into that flirt, Lavi. He winked at me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Can I help you or did you just come to flirt?"

He shrugged and moved aside. I walked back into the room and sat in a chair. Of course, Bookman decided that we had to leave as soon as I sat down. I quietly moaned to myself and walked to the group that was gathering in the middle of the room. I realized something. "Can I go get my trunk from my cart? It won't take long."

Bookman pondered this. "Fine, but take Lavi with you. There may be more akuma around and you don't know how to use your innocence yet."

I clenched my teeth. "Okay."

Lavi offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

I rolled my eyes and trudged out the door.

Once we reached my cart, I climbed in the back. I grabbed my journal and stuffed it into my trunk with the rest of my clothes. I stepped of my cart.

Lavi was waiting. "Is that everything?" he asked.

"Everything I need," I replied. "Let's get back to the inn before-"

I spotted an akuma coming toward us. "Lavi… not to alarm you or anything, but turn around."

He turned. He grabbed a tiny hammer from his belt. The hammer somehow grew and smashed the akuma to bits. Suddenly, we were surrounded by dozens of akuma. Lavi swung his hammer. I raised my hand defensively. "Go hide!" he shouted at me.

I held my ground. "And do what? I'm not just going to let you-"

"You can't fight. You don't have an effective weapon. Just do as I say or you'll get hurt!" he shouted. A bullet whizzed past my ear. I decided to do what he said and hid behind the trash bins in an alley. I watched silently as he took down each akuma.

"Are you still alive?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

"Then let's go," I said and walked towards the inn. Lavi followed behind me.