An: Hey, finally back in action! I received a lovely new MacBook Pro for Christmas and I shall now be able to update this fanfic again! It felt so good to be writing it again! Please make sure you read the second half of chapter 6 before you read this one!

Yoru rose early the next morning. She lit the candles and a couple of the incense splits and sat down to meditate for a while. She needed to mentally prepare herself for the meeting later that morning. Yoru, Komui, the generals, and the various other branch heads, were to meet with inspector Rouvelier to discuss what had happened to her team four years ago.

There would be a lot to discuss, Yoru knew that, and she knew that there would be topics that wouldn't be related, or at least very obscurely, to the incident itself. It was still hard for the young exorcist to talk about those topics, so meditation was an absolute must. Later, she would vent her stress at the training with Kanda. Yoru felt a tiny pang of guilt at this. The poor guy didn't have any idea what he was in for.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Yoru, can you be ready to leave in five minutes?"

"Yes, master." The Japanese teen got up and walked over to the wardrobe. She selected a deep purple tank top and a pair of black pants that flared out below the knee. She tied a scarf-like belt around her waist and pulled on her boots. She quickly brushed her hair, inwardly cursing Lenalee for persuading to keep it so long, and pulled it back into a low ponytail, holding in place with a silver clasp, the kanji for her name inscribed in black.

She met her master in the hall and the two of them walked to the central meeting room. When they entered they saw that the generals and branch heads had taken their seats. Yoru had expected Cross to be missing; Komui had told her that the man was currently in central, so she took no notice of his absence. In fact, she was inwardly thankful that the womanizer wasn't there, she'd almost been assigned to him as an apprentice, then Klaud had come in and saved the day.

Inspector Rouvelier stood at the head of the table, Komui sitting to his right and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. The Japanese teen recognized the man from Lenalee's repeated escape attempts and various other visits that would cause Lenalee to run to wherever she and Kanda happened to be meditating or sparring. Yoru remembered how Lenalee would always seek solace from the Japanese boy. It was logical, considering that Yoru was a full-blown tomboy and Lenalee seemed to be a little scared of her, Kanda's cool, silent demeanor was definitely more preferable.

"Welcome, Kuroumi Yoruko," Yoru twitched and the use of her full name, "It is wonderful to have back with us."

The Japanese teen bowed, stiffly, "I, myself, am happy to be back and able to assist my exorcist comrades in battle." She emphasized the last part of her sentence, making the inspector's fake smile falter and earning much approval from Bak Chan and his father, Zhu Chan. Yoru was making it quite clear that she wouldn't let herself be used by central ever again.

The inspector had recuperated and sat down, motioning for Yoru to take the empty seat next to Komui. Once she had done so, Rouvelier continued to speak.

"As I'm sure you aware, Yoruko-san-"

"Inspector, before we continue this conversation, I would like you to either address me by my surname or, if you don't like being that formal, as Yoru. I am unused being called by my full given name and, quite honestly, I detest it. So if you would please oblige, I would be ever so grateful" Yoru ignored the shocked faces of the branch heads and the stunned inspector was slightly irritated by the smug looks on the generals' and Komui's face. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Well, Yoru-san," Yoru smirked, "as I'm sure you are aware, we have gathered to here to hear what happened to you four years ago while on your mission to Loch Ness."

And then some, Yoru thought. Still, She inclined her head to meet the curious gazes focused on her.

"My team was sent out to investigate reported sightings of a monster lurking in the depths of Loch Ness, Scotland. While investigating the lake, we were ambushed."

"By whom?" several people asked at once.

"Judging by the cross-shaped marks embedded in his head, I assume it was one of the Noah." Yoru waited until the commotion at these words had died down before continuing, "The two finders who'd accompanied me were killed almost instantly. I myself fought back as hard as I could, but the Noah quickly overpowered me. He managed to phase an odd butterfly through my body and puncture every single one of my vital organs. While I was slipping into unconsciousness, I saw him crushing my innocence in his hand. He then dropped me into the lake and my crushed innocence followed suit. The last thing I remembered was falling into the lake and passing out. The next thing I knew I was having a subconscious conversation with my innocence and then Lenalee pounding on the crystal form it had taken. I woke up, we battled with the Noah, they withdrew, and we rested for a few days and cam back here. That pretty much sums it up."

"Yoru, you said you communicated with your innocence subconsciously, what exactly did you discuss? This information could be very valuable and help us to learn more about the other possible crystal-type accommodators like yourself."

Yoru looked over at Reni Epstein, who had posed the question. Yoru was still holding a grudge against the Epstein family, who had done a lot to her in the past.

"This feels weird saying this out loud," Yoru began, "the innocence told me how it had kept me alive for four years, repairing the damage to my body and maturing it and my mind at the same time."

"How did it keep you alive and when did you realize that you were having these exchanges?"

"It gave me nutrients intravenously and I have absolutely no idea," The teen said, curtly. This was another reason she hated the Epstein family, they always spoke so professionally, it was pretty damn annoying. "Is that really important information?"

"Yes, it gives us a little more insight to the innocence as a whole," again with the professionalism, "You are the third person to be protected by your innocence, Yoru, this is showing a pattern in the innocence's behavior. It never used to act on its own, now it's happened to three accommodators. Plus there's the fact that you all seemed to have pushed your anti-akuma weapons to the maximum before they evolved. If we can find out why this is, it could give us the key to speeding up the evolution process for other exorcists by skipping the over-exertion step."

"I see…" Yoru held her rising anger in check, now was not the time to fly off the handle. It irritated her to realize that the order hadn't learned its lesson about trying to take the easier way out of the war. "I don't think it'll be as you say, though."

"Why not? Her logic makes perfect sense." Another branch head piped up.

"Yes, Yoru-san," Rouvelier said, "Why on earth wouldn't it be that easy?"

Yoru closed her eyes, remembering back to the final part of her conversation with Meibatsu. She opened them again and faced the group, her previously bored expression replaced by one of utmost seriousness. "Because. The final stage of the innocence's evolution is completed when the host makes a decision. I think the entire process is triggered by a falter in the host's resolve. Only once the host chooses the real reason they fight can the innocence completely evolve and form a stronger bond with its accommodator."

"So what you're saying is," Komui said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "the innocence is testing its adapter. Considering that the innocence actually becomes a weapon once its accommodator gains the complete will to fight, it makes sense that it would want the host to have the right reason to fight. Once the host loses sight of the reason they thought they had to fight, the innocence tests them in order to drive them toward the real motive for which they constantly risk their life. Yes, I see now, this process can only begin once the exorcist has been subjected to the option of not re-synchronizing with the weapon that put them under so much physical stress. Their resolve shakes when they're subjected to the temptation of leaving the order and going back to the life they had before. The innocence, in a sense, puts them back on track and, if the host makes the right decision, brings them back to the field."

"So what that mean as far as speeding up the process goes?" general Zokalo grunted from his seat.

Komui shook his head, "It can't be done, the exorcists have to be subjected to this temptation before their innocence can evolve. They have to willingly go back to the battlefield by their own volition."

"Hmph, with the limited amount of exorcists and accommodators in this world, I was hoping we could at least gain a little more power with what we have." Rouvelier said irritably. He looked over at the Japanese girl, whose arms and legs were now crossed. "Well, we do have another option for gaining power."

The inspector's words brought out the curiosity of most of the branch heads and the suspicion and dread of the generals, Bak, Zhu, Komui, and Yoru. The said teen shot a warning look at Rouvelier, which he pointedly ignored.

"As all of you know, we now have to exorcists with extraordinary regeneration powers in our possession. Most commonly known to you is, of course, Kanda Yu, who received his abilities from none other than young Kuroumi Yoru. If I'm not mistaken, Yoru was born with her abilities and they have not diminished as a result." He looked straight at the Japanese girl, "If you would be so generous as you were nine years ago and allow us to-"

"Absolutely not."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, you son of a bitch. There is no fucking way I'm letting you torture me like you did nine years ago. You should already know what happens when you try to mess with the innocence and other people's bodies, so just forget about trying to use my DNA for your own selfish reasons."

"Selfish? Aren't you being selfish? Don't you want to help your fellow exorcists?"

"Yeah, and that's why I'm not going to subject them to the pain of being infused with my genes. You have no idea how there bodies will react to my powers and you might end up doing more harm than help by trying to do this."

"I agree," Komui said, his voice quivering with anger, "I am not going to let you do this. I don't care what you say, I'm not going to let you harm the accommodators. You need to realize that these people are not your personal toys, THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS.

"That is absolutely right," Klaud had stood up, along with several others who were horrified by this idea. "I am not letting you harm my student again, nor am I letting you conduct any sort of experiment on me or Timothy for that matter, got it?"

With that, and many other words of dissent from each of the parties, excluding Ms. Epstein, the meeting came to a close.

As Yoru walked out of the meeting room, she checked the clock by the door: 1:30 pm, just enough time to grab something to eat and then change to go vent her fury by beating the shit out of her best friend.