(Edited 15/12-12)

- o0o -

The Rewinding Town

- o0o -

A woman with dark hair tied in a knot on her head and dark circles surrounding her eyes got up from her bed in her small apartment, passed by a grandfather clock and went to fetch today's newspaper. She gripped it tightly, her knuckles whitening as she started shaking. The newspaper of October the 28th… again. The same articles… The same horoscopes…

The grandfather clock kept ticking and she looked up at it, counting the seconds, waiting for the people next-door to start their fighting. "You were out with that whore again, weren't you?" the neighbouring wife screamed while supposedly trying to strangle her wedded husband.

The woman in black with pale complexion and dark circles around her eyes sighed, turning her head to look at the clock, watching the hands move, relentlessly. It's the same October the 28th again…for the thirtieth time in a row…

Having yet another nervous breakdown, she fell to her knees on the floor, crying. Then, she wiped her tears, looking up with an almost determined expression on her face. She got to her feet, draped a scarf around her shoulders and headed for the door. She came out onto the street, only to be greeted by a group of four children, just like all other today's so far. She turned her head away and walked by them, experiencing a great deal of frustration when they started following her. "Miranda, Miranda, poor, poor Miranda, ugly, unlucky and plain useless, out looking for a job again, you'll get fired soon anyway…"

Always, always the same song… Always, always the same thing…

She bit her lip as she continued walking, quickening her pace. It's still October the 28th… Nothing's changed, not a thing…

- o0o -

The train compartment was quiet, filled with tension and a great irritation radiating from a certain raven-haired samurai as he was sitting at the opposite of a Chinese girl with pigtails who had a seemingly nervous smile playing on her lips. "Um, Kanda?" she asked, her voice breaking the tense silence. "Is something the matter?"

Kanda ignored her, looking out of the window of their private compartment as the landscapes of Germany passed by at a steady pace; Kanda wasn't the type to gaze at the scenery, but it proved effective when he didn't feel like answering questions.

Of course he wasn't alright; he had failed on his last mission only to be sent on another, where it wasn't even certain there was any Innocence to be found. Of course he was annoyed and a bit frustrated, mostly with himself. It was at times like this that Kanda's official "complete the mission or die"-policy became a great disadvantage. He couldn't afford anymore failures.

Nevertheless, being paired up with Lenalee was – in a way – the worst penalty for his actions. After all, being forced to listen to her talk about comrades and protecting everyone and all that stuff that he didn't really pay much attention to was like torture to him. Apparently, Lenalee saw him as her friend. Kanda on the other hand saw her as a mild nuisance; after all, she was a lot less irritating than certain other individuals who considered him a friend. They had known each other since childhood, both of them having been in the Order for what seemed like a long time since neither recalled much of what was before that, or at least that was what Lenalee sought to believe, since Kanda never spoke of his own past. And, while still on the subject of a traumatic childhood, Kanda wondered which Lenalee he preferred being with; the emotionally scarred and terrified Lenalee or the overly cheerful and positive one? Regardless of which one he actually preferred spending time with, he had strayed very far away from the actual point of all this, which was that the mission in question sucked big time.

Kanda sighed deeply, and then he had to use all his self-control not to flinch and to keep his gaze bored and cold as he suddenly came face to face with Lenalee at a close range. "Kanda, answer me when I'm talking to you," she said, pouting slightly. "Is something the matter?"

Kanda stared at her. "Not really," he snorted before returning to staring at the landscape flashing by the window.

Lenalee returned to her seat, still wearing a slightly displeased facial expression. "I can tell that you're annoyed with something."

Kanda let out an annoyed sigh before turning his head to face her; one thing he knew well about Lenalee was that she was stubborn as Hell, even more stubborn than he was. "So there is possibly an Innocence in a town in Germany, but in the end that is just a possibility," he said, clearly irritated. "It seems like this town is rewinding, probably. This means that this mission is about retrieving an Innocence that maybe exists."

"Kanda, I think I got the maybe-part of this…"

"And that worthless nonworking supervisor had two more theories…" Kanda continued, ignoring her. He held up one finger. "One; if this is the work of Innocence there's likely someone compatible with it as well." He held up two fingers. "Two; if we actually do get into this godforsaken town or whatever, it is very possible that we won't be able to get out."

Lenalee tilted her head to the side, smiling. "I'm sure it'll work out somehow."

Kanda gave her a look before staring blankly at the window again. That positive attitude, oh how he hated it…

- o0o -

A few minutes after the two exorcists had reached the town and entered it through a barrier one of the gates to the Ark temporarily opened, letting two figures out before closing and disappearing, leaving them out in the heavy rain.

One of the figures wore a dark coat with a hood, not entirely unlike one of the Black Order's, only without any marks of his allegiance. His face was hidden, but his silver-grey eyes were watching the town with an indifferent expression.

The other was a seemingly young girl with spiky hair who wore a frilly top and a dark skirt along with a pair of striped tights. She was standing under an umbrella, looking at the town with her amber eyes. "So this is the so called Rewinding Town?"

"Fascinating," the hooded figure interrupted in a bored voice. "Let's just get inside…"

The girl smiled and reached out her hand to touch the barrier, withdrawing it almost instantly. "It repels me," she said, looking at her slightly burnt fingertips. "I guess I'll have to use that."

She gave the hooded figure a meaningful look. "What?" the other asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

The girl said nothing but continued staring at him until he finally yielded. "Fine…" he said, pulling the hood further down. He took a step forward in direction of the barrier. "I'll go ahead and have a look around."

The girl waved at him. "See you later then," she said cheerily before adding "And don't get lost."

The hooded figure stepped through the barrier surrounding the town with ease. As he had entered the town, he noticed that it had stopped raining. He pushed back his hood, revealing a messy white hair and a crimson scar on his pale face. "Allen Walker has arrived."

- o0o -

Miranda Lotto stopped walking for a moment, looking up at the sky. The sun is really bright today…

She sighed heavily and looked at the other people on the fairly crowded street as they were walking, heading in the same direction as about thirty times before, walking by the same people as about thirty times before… Why won't anyone notice this?

Miranda sighed and walked into a back alley; she didn't want to bother with all the people anymore, she already knew how this day was going to end anyway. After this I'll be splashed with muddy water when a carriage drives by, then I'll go home…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was faced with some kind of monster. Her back collided with the wall behind her as she stared up at it, terrified. Her eyes widened but she still couldn't bring herself to scream. Her heartbeat swiftly accelerated. Her lips were trembling. Am I going to get killed? Wasn't today the same as always?

The monster nailed her against the wall, leaning forward as if it wanted to eat her or speak to her, or both. "Where's the Innocence?"

Her eyes widened.

"Let that woman go," a voice growled. Another different thing happened…

The monster let her go to engage in battle with the swordsman. Miranda felt happier than she had in ages. I finally got out…

She clenched her hands to fists. I finally escaped today…

She ran off from the scene with a maniacal laughter just as the swordsman ultimately destroyed the monster, no, akuma. "Hey, wait up!" the swordsman shouted after her, but she was already out of sight. "Tch."

He wiped his blade and sheathed it. "Damn it."

- o0o -

The girl with the umbrella was still standing outside of the city walls in the heavy rain. After a few minutes, she heaved a sigh of boredom and gave the umbrella a twirl before approaching the barrier. She folded the umbrella and stuck a hand through the barrier, feeling how it burned. Pain had never bothered her much anyway and she took a step forward, forcefully breaching the barrier as an almost enjoyable sensation swept through her as clothes, skin and tissue were burned off. But it lasted only a moment before she had passed though and entered the so called Rewinding Town and her body as well as her outward appearance were automatically repairing themselves; she wasn't the first one among the Noah for nothing after all, but she somehow didn't wish to show herself in such a state in front of Allen.

Allen. That was the name of a person she had grown fond of, a name which she liked to say over and over again just to hear a sneering question asking what the Hell she wanted.

Allen Walker. It was the name of a person who was as pretty as a doll. Call it infatuation or just plain obsession, but whether one liked it or not, to her Allen was and would always be special.

She sighed heavily once again, returning from her lazy daydreaming to the reality and boredom of the Rewinding Town as she was standing in daylight, her amber eyes watching the crowded main street. "Road Camelot has arrived," she announced, taking a skip onto the pavement.

"You're late," a voice said.

Road's eyes flashed as she laid eyes on the cloaked figure leaning against the wall. "You were watching," she accused.

The cloaked figure merely shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't."

Road pouted lightly. "You were. I just know it."

The shadow sighed and very likely rolled his eyes over his statement, but it remained unseen as his face was hidden in shadow. "In exactly what way is this conversation in any way relevant to our mission?"

Road skipped towards him. "Allen… You know I don't like being spied on you fake-hearted gentleman."

Allen remained unimpressed and preferred ignoring her words. Road's eyes narrowed and she dropped her cute façade for her mischievous one as she gazed at the town seemingly looking for something. "So, where's the akuma I sent here in advance?" she asked no one in particular.

"Well…" Allen said after a while. "One is gone for sure."

Road turned to look at him with a curious look on her face. "Exorcists or did you get bored while waiting?"

"Exorcist," Allen replied. "Kanda Yu."

Road blinked. "You seem to know a lot," she said, sounding a bit suspicious. "Have you run into him before?"

"More or less," Allen said, shrugging lightly, making no further attempts on explaining exactly how he had run into the previously mentioned samurai.

"Huh…" Road said, a light frown appearing on her face as she apparently found Allen's withholding of perhaps vital information a truly suspicious thing. "So, have there been any signs of the Innocence?"

Allen – feeling a bit relieved as they had left the possibly dangerous topic – yawned. "I think this miserably-looking gloomy woman might have something to do with this phenomenon…"

Road watched him with an impatient look on her face. "Any proof?"

Allen gave her a bleak smile. "Just a feeling…" he said as his smile widened to a grin. "…And the fact that the exorcists are running around completely frantically and looking for her…"

Road's eyes glimmered. "So we've likely found the source… But it's no fun when the game ends too early…"

Allen's silver-grey eyes rested on her for a moment before darting off into the distance again. "So you want to make things more interesting?" he asked, his question sounding more like a statement than an actual question.

Road smiled sweetly at him, putting up her cute schoolgirl act. "What are your conditions?" she asked with a certain hidden excitement hidden in her voice as she soon might be given an opportunity to mess around with people's lives for the sake of her own personal amusement within the immediate future.

Allen looked down at her. He appeared to be thinking deeply for a few moments, likely trying to figure out in exactly what way this situation could be used to benefit him the most. After all, it wasn't everyday Road asked him to state his conditions when it came to playing games, since it was usually the other way around. "How about this?" Allen said after a while, raising his index finger. "One: Do not screw up the Earl's plan more than necessary." He raised another finger. "Two: Do not force me to do your homework."

Road looked fairly disappointed after hearing Allen's conditions but she accepted them anyway. But deep inside her mind she still kept on wondering how the Hell Allen had known that she had intended to force him to do her homework as soon as they returned from this mission. Sometimes even she found herself wondering whether Allen was psychic or something, since Allen had this peculiar ability to evade every trap that Jasdero and Devitto set for him as well, as he was usually quite skilled at avoiding getting trapped inside her dreams. She smirked. Well, it takes one to know one. Allen is part Noah as well after all.

- o0o -

Meanwhile, Kanda had made his way to the restaurant that was the designated meeting place. As he opened the door, he spotted Lenalee sitting at a table by a window, looking at him. "You're late," she said, stating a fact without any hint of accusation in her voice.

Kanda grunted in response as he sat down at the opposite of her.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"An akuma and a suspicious person," Kanda hissed, refraining from mentioning the fact that this suspicious person – this miserably-looking gloomy woman – was the sole reason as to why he had been late in the first place.

Lenalee frowned. "In what way suspicious?"

Kanda glared at her, obviously in a foul mood for not having been able to catch up to that weak-looking woman from before. "The akuma asked her about Innocence."

"What?" Lenalee half-shouted before looking around, looking mildly embarrassed. Then she leant closer, lowering her voice. "Then she might be the accommodator… What did she look like?"

"Dark, gloomy and miserably weak," Kanda responded.

"I don't understand what you mean," she said. "Can you draw me a picture?"

"No."

He snorted. Then, he looked up, just as the miserable-looking gloomy woman and the cause of his own misery appeared in the doorway to the restaurant. Instinctively, he stood up, finding that the most sensible thing for him to do would be to eliminate said piece of human garbage as soon as humanly possible, but, seeing that Lenalee shot him a look as if she had known what was going on inside of his head, he restrained his first impulse.

The miserable-looking woman though stood frozen at the threshold as she spotted him and he could practically see the thinking process of the woman as she came to the realisation about the situation at hand before abruptly turning around, exiting the door and dashing off.

Lenalee still looked slightly confused as Kanda gave chase. "That's her!" he shouted before exiting the door and disappearing down the street.

Lenalee got to her feet, activating her Dark Boots. But then a chill ran down her spine as three other people sitting by the counter also rose to their feet. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw how these three individuals started transforming. Akuma.

An endlessly painful sensation pierced through her brain and it felt like her head was going to split in two. Then, everything went black.

- o0o -

As Kanda turned the corner he found that his prey was lying motionless on the pavement at the feet of a masked figure dressed in a white cloak. Kanda reached for Mugen, identifying the figure as an enemy. It was unnervingly familiar to the white blur that he had a vague recollection of previously having encountered in the city of Martel.

Before he was even able to dash off and attack it, he was nailed to the wall by a sticky web-like substance attached to the cloaked figure's wrist. "Damn you…" Kanda hissed as the pressure on his ribcage grew.

The masked figure kept watching him with the same indifferent expression in his eyes and his lips were drawn into a thin line as the samurai made futile attempts to cut the threads with his sword before finally going limp.

- o0o -

Once he finally drifted towards wakefulness, the first thing he registered was great pain in his hands. As the blurry world gradually started clearing up, he said the first thing which came to mind. "Shit…"

And shit was truly the least he could say about the situation, seeing that his arms were pinned above his head with his palms pierced with what seemed to be a pointed candle. With a bit of further observation of his surroundings, he spotted Lenalee sitting in a chair a bit farther away – all dressed up in a black gown – her hair all curly and her face carrying a blank expression with half-lidded dull eyes. A whimper brought his attention a bit farther away and he spotted the miserable-looking woman from before, her hands nailed to what appeared to be a grandfather clock.

A giggle brought his attention back as his eyes came to rest on Mugen which lay on the floor of the room they were all confined in, a room filled with toys, dolls and candles lighting up the darkness. A bit further away at his opposite was another chair where a stranger seated – a stranger with a messy white hair – a stranger who looked strangely familiar. Beside the chair stood a girl with spiky black hair, surrounded by three Level-Two akuma. "Oh, so you two are awake?" the girl asked, turning around to face them. "I was getting a bit bored."

"Who the Hell are you?" Kanda hissed.

She giggled as her skin turned ashen and a line of crosses appeared on her forehead. "I am Road Camelot," she said. "I am one of the Noah clan, one of the true apostles of God."

"What did you do to Lenalee?" he growled at her, this Road Camelot or whatever her name was.

Road smirked at him before skipping from her place by one chair to the one in which the motionless Lenalee was sitting. Twirling an ebony lock of Lenalee's curly hair, Road smirked as Kanda's facial expression darkened. "Her? Nothing much, just some nerve damage…" Road said, leaning closer to the female exorcist. "Lenalee, huh? She's really pretty…"

To this statement, Kanda hissed while Road laughed, accompanied in her laughter by the three akuma by her side. "And exorcist dolls are rare…" she continued in a moment of thoughtfulness before her face was lit up by a sweet but certainly not innocent smile. "Getting my hands on two of them would be awesome…"

Kanda immediately raised his head, staring into the amber eyes of the enemy with a great deal of disbelief in his eyes. His mouth spoke the question before his brain was able to stop it. "Two of them?"

Kanda could hear that his voice was shaking slightly and he hated it; showing weakness in front of an enemy should not be allowed, not under any circumstances, while Road merely giggled at him, like he had said some kind of joke. Still smiling, she skipped back to the other chair, to the white-haired figure sitting in it. "This guy," Road said, her voice gaining certain tenderness as she stroked a few stray hairs from the boy's face. "He was far harder to catch than the three of you. Honestly…" her eyes got an almost loving expression, "It was not easy…"

"He's an exorcist?" Kanda yelled, trying to pull his hands free, his frustration with his own helplessness growing with every passing second.

Road turned around, facing him, and her eyes were immediately filled with malice as she looked in his direction. "I have no obligation to answer…" she said. "Especially not a person who's about to die…" she made a gesture towards the raven-haired exorcist, "Allen!"

The previously still white-haired boy stirred slightly as his previously closed eyelids fluttered, revealing a pair of glazed silver-grey orbs. The snow-white head tilted to the side for a moment before the figure raised himself from the chair, taking a staggering step before straightening up and gaining balance as a white cloak materialised around him, hiding the upper part of his face behind a mask in black and silver. The cloak itself was billowing, briefly uncovering a blackened hand with nails that ended in long razor-sharp iron claws. "Allen!" Road commanded. "Kill him!"

The white-haired teen instantly obeyed, charging at Kanda who had taken his one chance, ripping his hands, yanking them down, shredding them with a hiss of pain through gritted teeth. He threw himself after Mugen, grabbing it just in time to parry a blow at his vitals, narrowly evading getting sliced up by the other's claws. Kanda's hands hurt really badly and they bled a lot but that didn't matter; as long as he managed to stay alive, his curse would heal them soon enough. Now all he could do was to fight and to suppress the pain in order to concentrate on the opponent in front of him. Kanda activated Mugen just before the same white web-like threads as before attached themselves to his wrist, restricting his movements.

There was something seriously wrong with this whole scenario. Kanda glared at the masked individual, trying to anticipate his next move, trying to hide his astonishment that the other had stopped moving. A bead of sweat ran down his face. If this guy is an exorcist like that Noah said… then where did he come from? Why didn't we know about this guy? Why is he with the Noah? An exorcist doll? So he's under some kind of control? But something is still off… If he's being controlled, then why didn't he kill me earlier on when he had the chance to?

The next moment he was slammed into a wall and dust enveloped the area. Both combatants were swept into a cloud of it and were cut off from view. Road ordered her akuma to be on standby before she turned her head in direction of the sobbing Miranda. Road smiled at her, carrying what seemed to be a look of pity in her eyes as she raised her hand. "I'll set you free soon…"

- o0o -

Meanwhile, Miranda was nearing the point of absolute despair. I don't want to die… I don't want to die… I don't want to die… I don't…

The mighty chime of the grandfather clock interrupted her thoughts as a sudden force resonated inside her. Her hair got loose from the knot on her head, flapping freely around her as light erupted and the chimes continued resonating within her heart. Before she knew it, her hands were free again and they didn't hurt anymore, so she opened her eyes not knowing when she had closed them and stared with amazement at the scene before her.

- o0o -

Meanwhile, as Kanda was fighting the cloaked figure, the latter suddenly came to a stop, placing a hand over his mouth as violent coughs started rocking his body. As blood spilled from beneath that hand, Kanda realised that this was likely his best opportunity to attack, but instead he found that he could merely watch. If this guy was a parasite type then a rebound of this sort was likely possible, no, it would be inevitable.

The cloaked figure – no, the boy by the looks of it – continued coughing up blood for a few moments before abruptly stopping again, wiping the blood from his mouth and straightening up.

Then, suddenly, some kind of shockwave hit them and the next moment they were both enclosed within yet another space, like a sphere with numerous clocks around them with clock hands rewinding themselves. "What the Hell is this?" Kanda asked, obviously asking what the others were thinking.

The masked individual he was fighting didn't answer, seeing that he merely wobbled and started to fall, like a doll whose strings had been cut. Nonetheless, what surprised Kanda the most was the fact that he immediately rushed forward in order to catch the other, even though this particular individual could possibly be an enemy. But he did and by doing so he noticed that the boy was incredibly light. As he lowered him to the ground, Kanda suddenly noticed that his wounds had started healing. Feeling a certain need to confirm something, he pushed the mask away from the other's face, revealing a crimson scar half-concealed by a pair of snow-white bangs. The other's face was pale as death itself and his eyes were closed. Laying a finger onto the other's throat, Kanda felt a faint pulse. But why did he care anyway? Why did he give a damn about this kid's life when they had seemingly been trying to kill each other merely minutes ago? All these annoying questions pestering him… How did his wounds heal this quickly anyway?

He looked around, spotting that same miserable-looking woman from before beneath what seemed to be a giant rewinding clock. So you were compatible after all…

Knowing that they had now – more or less – found two more exorcists brought no real joy to him in this situation since he still needed to save Lenalee and get them all out of this place. With little effort, he picked the white-haired teen up and tossed him in the gloomy-looking woman's general direction. "Make sure he keeps breathing," Kanda said as he readied himself on breaking out of the sphere. "I've got some questions for him."

As Kanda emerged from the sphere, he was immediately greeted by Road and her akuma. "So you actually managed to beat him?" Road whistled, looking fairly impressed. "Or did he just break?"

Kanda gritted his teeth, feeling a great anger surging within him as he raised Mugen.

Road smirked as she jumped backwards, leaving her akuma to deal with the furious samurai. "A-ah," she said, sounding disappointed as she twirled her umbrella. "It was no fun playing with you low-lives after all… I'm leaving… I have homework to do."

"Wait," Kanda shouted as he narrowly evaded an attack and sliced up the akuma responsible for it. "Aren't you going to take back that doll of yours?"

Road merely pulled out a lollipop, stuck it into her mouth and snapped her fingers, making one of her doors appear. She giggled as she entered it, sparing a single look at the samurai who was still fighting against the remaining two akuma.

"I have no interest in broken toys," she said before the door shut behind her. "Akuma, it's an order. Self-detonate!"

"Holy…" Kanda hissed as he swiftly jumped in direction of the chair Lenalee was still sitting in, grabbed a hold of her and entered the sphere just as the two remaining akuma exploded. He caught a vague glimpse of the woman and that white-haired kid, whose Innocence seemed to have deactivated since the white cloak was now gone. By the looks of it, he still hadn't regained consciousness. Kanda was about to say something to the unlucky woman, but before he had the chance to do so the entire dimension started cracking and falling apart, its pieces getting swallowed in an endless darkness as Road's door disappeared into nothingness.

Once Miranda's Innocence finally deactivated, there were three unmoving bodies on her floor. Though on second thought, make that two, since one of them actually stirred. The white-haired one sat up in much pain judging by his facial expression, letting his eyes wander around the room, first looking towards the fallen exorcists, then towards the grandfather clock and then towards Miranda, where they stayed. Involuntarily, Miranda shuddered, as she had yet to determine whether this white-haired boy was an enemy or not, but to her great surprise he smiled at her, holding out his hand towards her as though he wished to greet her. After a bit of hesitation she took it, finding to her surprise that his hand gave her a warm and pleasant sensation. "I suppose I should thank you," the boy said. "You saved me."

"Who are you?" she asked. "I've never been thanked, not ever… because I've never been useful… or acknowledged as a human being…"

"Nice to meet you," the boy said. "My name is Allen, Allen Walker."

Miranda blinked. "Allen?" she asked with concern in her voice as the white-haired teen once again started coughing. "Are you alright?"

"No problem," Allen said, getting to his feet, wobbling a bit. "You should be more concerned about the others; I have to go."

Miranda started crying again. "This is all my fault…" she whispered. "If I just hadn't… then this wouldn't have…"

Allen put a hand onto her head, nudging it lightly. "I like to believe… that there's a meaning to everything, that everything that happens to us is a part of something greater so that all of our suffering won't be in vain…"

"Are you an exorcist?" Miranda asked suddenly.

"No," Allen said simply as he started making his way to the door. "I do possess Innocence, but I wouldn't call myself one."

"Wait," Miranda said, wiping her tears. "Where are you going? Can't I come with you?"

Allen gave her a questioning look, before smiling sadly at her. "We both have our respective obligations to carry out," he said. "But not in the same way. In the end, we're likely striving for the same goal, but we must not walk the same road."

"Why not?" she asked, getting to her feet. "Why does it have to be that way? I want to help you…"

Allen sighed, laying his hand onto the doorknob. "Unfortunately…" he said. "For a person like me there is no thing as salvation."

He opened the door, turning his head and smiling back at her once last time "Take care."

Then he was gone.

- o0o -

Allen walked down the streets while snowflakes fell all around him, and he looked up at the grey skies. "For a person like me there'll be no salvation," he repeated, his voice a mere whisper. He pulled his coat closer to himself as he passed by a window, catching sight of his reflection for a brief moment, seeing the ever-grinning shadow hovering over him like the Grim Reaper himself. Then he continued walking, at a faster pace.

- o0o -