Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray -Man.

Chapter 3: Secret Mission

"That's changed now. There is not much we can do about it. Please continue to care for him until I contact you. Goodbye."

The man hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. Things were not going according to plan. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide Allen forever, but he expected more time than this. He needed more time.

As he slowly closed his eyes to catch up on some lost sleep, the door to his office swung open,

"Supervisor Komui," Reever called out as he invited himself in. "Who was that on the phone?"

"Just an Exorcist reporting in on a mission." Komui replied.

"Oh, I see… have you heard about Bookman?"

"Yes, Central has told me everything. Please tell Lavi he must be ready to take his place. He will no longer be able to join in any fights from here on unless it is to save his life only."

"Do you honestly think he will follow those rules? Even Bookman said he wasn't ready yet,"

"I know." Komui cut off. "But I believe Lavi will uphold his promise to Bookman."

Reever sighed. There wasn't much else he could say without causing an uproar. Everyone in the Order had begun turning against the Supervisor – saying that he had betrayed the Exorcists well-being because of Central, but Reever knew Komui had no choice.

No longer was Komui as cheerful as he used to be. He stopped joking around a lot and actually concentrated on his work. He had been losing lots of sleep and not eating as healthy as he should. Of course, this worried Lenalee the most. She begged Komui to slow down, but he didn't listen. When she asked why he was doing all this he gave her the exact same answer each time, "I'm doing this for you" he would say. Lenalee couldn't respond to that. The only thing she could do was run to her room to cry tears for her brother. Oh how she wished everything would just go back to the way it used to be.

Komui sat in silence as he watched Reever take a pile of papers off his desk, piling more on top of each other in his arms until he couldn't carry any more.

He raised an eyebrow, but Reever simply smiled in return, "I'll be taking these."

"Feeling generous are we? Weren't you the one who always yelled at me to do my own work?" Komui mockingly responded.

"As a matter of fact, I am feeling generous. Without you dumping more work on the rest of us, we've had too much free time on our hands,"

"Isn't that a good thing, Reever-san?"

"It used to be, but…"

"But?" Komui waited.

"We don't have a sister that cries in her room each time we take on another workload. You should stop being so selfish, Supervisor" Reever smiled and then headed out the door, not waiting to see if Komui would reply.

Komui simply took his mug and sipped at his coffee. He was used to Reever yelling at him, but he wasn't used to him actually giving good advice on family matters. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to his or if he had any for that matter.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when an irritated swordsman barged in the room, slamming the door shut as he walked over and plonked himself on the seat.

"Ah, Kanda-san. You finally decided to show up!" Komui said as cheerfully as possible. "Now what was it I called you here for again?"

"Don't play dumb!" Kanda hissed, noticeable signs of irritation in his voice. "You have a mission to give?"

"Ah, that's right!" Komui chuckled. "There is a mission I need you to take; however, I'm giving you a choice."

"Choice?" Kanda asked questionably.

Komui stood up and walked over to his map which he quickly slipped down, showing a chart of Romania. His facial expression showed he was being more serious than usual.

"I cannot say much to you right now, but, this mission will require discreteness. You will probably be gone for a long time and," Komui paused, taking in a deep breath. "I don't want to think of the consequences if either of us get caught."

"Che, so it's going against orders?"

"It's going against Central's."

"…" Kanda fell silent and waited for Komui to continue speaking,

"As I said before, I'm giving you a choice to take this mission."

"Calling me a coward?" Kanda hissed. "I'll take it."

Komui sighed, but smiled whilst doing so. He knew Kanda was the right person for this mission and had no doubt he would accept. "You will meet up with a fellow Exorcist in a town called Râmnicu Vâlcea in Wallachia, Romania. Her name is Annabelle Harsh. She will fill you in on the information I cannot."

"Huh" Kanda said softly. Turning around he made his way to the door, but stopped after hearing Komui call out to him one last time,

"Oh and Kanda!" Komui called out. "I'm putting all my trust in you."

Kanda didn't quite understand what he meant, but nodded and left the room. Being the way he normally is, he didn't waste any time saying goodbyes. Instead, he simply packed all his belongings and headed off to the train station.

He was granted the privilege to have one of the VIP carts to himself, allowing him the peace and quiet he prefers. Kanda stayed in contact with Komui for most of the trip. He gave Kanda a little information on where he was heading and what the Exorcist he was meeting looked like, but why he was going there still remained a mystery. Kanda didn't bother to pry on it though.

Once Kanda arrived in town the next day, he was asked to cut off all contact with the Order and that Komui will contact him if necessary. In case of an emergency, Komui explained that the Exorcist he would meet will have the availability, but it was highly not recommended. After sending away his golem, Kanda headed in to a small tavern, taking a seat at an empty table where he would wait for the Exorcist to show up.

Komui didn't give a good description, so it was going to be tough finding her amongst the crowd. The most distinctive feature he remembered Komui pointing out was that she had bright sky blue eyes – impossible to miss.

After waiting for at least an hour, a woman walked through the doors of the tavern. Kanda knew it was her immediately and not because of her eyes. Flying next to her was the noticeably annoying golden golem named Timcanpy. He couldn't help but wonder what she was doing with him, but ignored the idea as quickly as it came. Immediately she noticed the samurai, eyeing him down before walking over and sitting opposite him. Komui warned her of Kanda's personality, so she decided she would take on a fast approach. The last thing they needed was to start off on the wrong foot.

"As you have probably heard from Komui, I am the Exorcist you will be working with; Annabelle Harsh. I know you prefer working solo, so I assure, if it comes time that we need to fight, I won't get in your way." Quickly, Annabelle took a breath and smiled at Kanda softly as to not irritate him. "I will keep this as brief as possible."

Already Kanda was a tad impressed. However, despite what other people may think, or say, Kanda knew there was a catch. Never before had Komui gone out of his way to 'please' Kanda's preferences. First the VIP train cart, free luggage and money, brief meeting, and the Exorcist was bending to his will. Something was definitely up.

"As you probably know, this mission is secret and goes against Central's orders. In fact, Central doesn't even know about this so we have to be discrete. You won't be wearing your Exorcist uniform but instead you will wear normal clothes. Oh, and don't activate your innocence unless you are in immediate danger either,"

"What's the catch?" Kanda finally spoke.

"Catch? What catch?"

"Komui would not go out of his way to organise this for no reason. Why did he want me to come out here?"

Annabelle fell silent for a moment, her smile leaving her face as she thought of how to answer. "Komui did warn me about something, but we will get to that later. For now, come with me, Exorcist Kanda."

Not prying on the matter any further, Kanda grabbed his luggage and followed Annabelle out of the tavern. She led him to a garments store, telling him to find some comfortable clothes to wear as the weather here can be unpredictable at times. Once he had bought what he needed, Kanda changed so he was now wearing a white long-shirt that buttoned up at the front, having his sleeves rolled up to half way with dark navy blue pants and black boots.

Whilst Kanda was getting changed, Annabelle went in to town and got postages and letters from the post office, though they all appeared to be fake. Once they were ready, the two hopped on to Annabelle's carriage and made their way back to where they would be staying.

Kanda was still bothered that he did not know the actual goal of the mission. Judging by the baron town and lack of graves in the cemetery he passed, it seemed the town was not under threat of any Akuma. Annabelle had not mentioned any strange occurrences either so he assumed innocence were not the cause, so what were they doing there?

"What's the point of this?" Kanda finally exclaimed, a touch of impatience in his voice.

"The point of the mission?"

He nodded.

"You will see soon enough, Kanda," Annabelle replied with a smirk. "For now I want to clear one thing up with you. You and I are distant cousins and your family has just died causing you to lose your farm which is why you're coming to live with me."

"Wha—! "

"Don't ask questions, just follow my lead."

Grunting, Kanda sat back and kept quiet for the rest of the trip. There was no use arguing about it, for it seemed he would know soon enough the purpose of this mission.

The trip was about two hours long, leaving Kanda with a stiff back. Once he jumped off the carriage, Annabelle heard him crack his back all the way from the other side. That's what he gets for sitting in one spot without moving for so long.

The sun was high in the sky with no clouds stretching on for miles. It was the definition of a perfect day.

"Let's go, Kanda, time to meet the family." Annabelle smiled. "First, I want you to help me carry in this load. I'm sure you're a lot stronger than I am…"

"Che,"

Walking around to the back of the carriage, Kanda grabbed hold of two large boxes, both weighing fairly heavy, but managed to carry them both to the door of the house showing no signs of struggle.

"Just leave them out here," she said as Annabelle fiddled with the keys to the door. "Now go and grab the others."

With a noticeable huff, Kanda went ahead and grabbed the rest of the boxes, piling them up just outside the front door. Annabelle waited until he was finished before she invited him to come in with his luggage.

"We're a bit low on space so I'm afraid you'll have to settle with a futon in the lounge room." Annabelle chuckled.

"Whatever…" Kanda responded coldly as usual.

"Alright then, now if you don't mind waiting here for a sec, I'll go round up the others…"

"Fine"

"Oh, Kanda, one more thing."

"What?"

"Remember that Komui is putting all his trust in you, so please, do your best."

Again with the trust thing? Kanda was a little ticked off that it had been said twice to him yet he had no idea of the meaning. As Annabelle left the room, Kanda had a look at his surroundings. It was a medium sized room containing two red couches and a large rug on the floor with various colours and designs. Ahead of him was an arch wall that leads into the dining and kitchen, which wasn't that big either.

"Boys! I'm back!" Annabelle called out from outside.

Kanda could faintly hear voices calling back to her, but didn't recognise what they were saying. It wasn't until he heard the footsteps and deep breaths of the boys that got closer that he could actually hear them.

"Mama! You're back! Did you pick up cousin Kanda?" a young child's voice called out in between breaths.

"I can't wait to meet him!" the other said. His voice sounding a bit older than the other, but not old enough to be an adult.

But wait. Was Kanda hearing things? He could've sworn he just heard that annoying moyashi's voice call out. Quickly shaking his head, he removed the very thought of it and waited for them to come inside.

After a few more exchange of words, Annabelle and the other two figures followed her in, anxiously waiting to meet the new arrival.

"Jeffery, Allen, this is my cousin, Kanda. He will be staying with us for a while."

"Kanda!" Jeffery called out with delight, running up to him but not daring to give him a hug. Instead he just jumped up and down with a big grin on his face.

Allen then revealed himself from behind the wall of the arch. For once in Kanda's life, he was gobsmacked, and actually, happy to see he was alive – not that he would ever admit it.

"Hello Kanda-san," Allen bowed, then held out his hand for a shake. "My name is Allen Walker. I'm pleased to meet you."

Kanda took a step back, ignoring Allen's kind gesture for a handshake. He thought over of what he could possibly say, but no matter what he thought of and despite the cold glare he was getting from Annabelle for being so quiet for so long, Kanda could only manage to say one thing,

"Moyashi"

Preview:

"Do you hate me?"