It's been eight chapters. Really. I don't own either Bleach or D. Gray-man... unless you're willing to give them to me. :D

Chapter Nine

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Excerpt from a religious text; The History of the Dark Religious Organization, written by Komui Lee, age 54, in the mid-1900's:

Yuu Kanda is, in fact, not a complete human. As a child who just joined the Order, he was a full human, but demanded more power. What that power would be used for, we didn't quite know. The higher-ups decided that they agreed with Kanda—they needed more power from the Exorcists. As a result, they took a fragment of Kanda's Innocence—a part of his Mugen—and branded his chest with a curse. The fact that it began to eat away at his life was the effect of a mutation…

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"Che. So you're telling me that because I'm not human, my sword is an exact copy of me?" Kanda demanded. He, Lavi, Komui, Ichigo, Lenalee, and Yoruichi were having dinner at Urahara's shop.

Lavi, his fake grin replaced with a serious face, nodded. "If Mugen is a part of you, wouldn't it then be logical for it you to be a part of it? The core that it used could have been made from the life that it drew out of you."

Kanda scoffed. "Then in that case," he grunted, "wouldn't my sync rate be higher than what it is?"

The bookman shrugged. "It should. But what should happen doesn't always. Probability isn't the law."

"That's true," Komui agreed. "It might have also been the curse on your chest, or the lotus in the hourglass. It was the Order's first time; dealing with something such as a request to infuse Innocence into a human body. The fact that your sync rate isn't at the highest peak and that your Mugen was slowly stealing your life was probably a result of the unmonitored mutation of the operation… that is to say, the lotus that we created alongside the curse mark to inject the Innocence into your body."

"That's quite possible," Urahara said, seating himself next to Komui after moving from the table. "The lotus could have been a way to channel the life from your body. It accelerated the healing processes of your body in exchange for bits of your life, which was traded for strength in the form of Innocence."

Kanda slammed his fist onto the floor. "What difference does this make?" he asked angrily, sounding impatient. Lavi grinned.

"Aww, Yuu," he crooned, dodging an assault from his friend. "It's all right if you don't understand; just ask your best friend Lavi; he'll explain it to you!"

"Like hell I would!" the swordsman snarled.

Lenalee walked in, carrying a tray with coffee-filled mugs. "Don't wreck the store, Kanda. People need it," she warned, her voice threatening enough to make him flinch. To Komui and Urahara, she asked sweetly, "Would you guys like some coffee?"

"So wait—let me get this straight." Heads turned to look at Ichigo, who continued. "Kanda's not 100% human."

"Was not human," Urahara interjected.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. He had a fragment of his Innocence inside his body, which channeled his reiatsu into Mugen through the lotus in the hourglass. The initial core was from the same operation—a piece of Innocence into his body for a piece of his reiatsu into Mugen. Right?"

"Yep," Komui chirped, sipping his coffee. "Equivalent exchange—the basics of alchemy."

"So how was his death connected to the flower, nii-san?" Lenalee asked. "You recorded that it was completely withered away when Kanda was announced dead."

Kanda raised an eyebrow and shifted in his seat. He had been curious about this, as well—though he wouldn't admit it.

After taking another sip, the Chinese scientist replied, "What I think is that the lotus represented the amount of reiatsu Mugen required from Kanda to create a sufficient core for a zanpakuto's characteristics. A meter, if you will. The full lotus meant that it needed a lot more of his energy to create a core. As the energy was being transferred, the petals withered away, meaning that there was less energy needed."

"Then, in that case, the rest of Kanda's life was needed to create a core," Yoruichi finished.

Urahara nodded. "That makes sense. Most cores are created from souls that are already dead; in that case, the whole soul could be consumed for the core, making the zanpakuto powerful. The reason why Mugen wasn't as powerful as it could have been in your past life, Kanda, was probably because it didn't have a sufficient enough core."

"But if it was consuming my life, then how was I able to heal so quickly?" Kanda asked.

"Like I said: equivalent exchange," Komui repeated. "In exchange for stealing your life, the fragment of Innocence inside you healed you. It would have been a very unfair and law-defying trade if it hadn't."

Lenalee sat down. "So the reason why Mugen is a mirror image of Kanda is because the operation and the lotus transferred his life into Mugen, creating a zanpakuto core strong enough to create a zanpakuto's characteristics. In return for his life, Mugen healed his body… right, nii-san?"

"Yes; that's a brilliant summary, my sweet Lenalee! You're so smart, and—"

Embarrassed by her brother's doting actions, Lenalee escaped to her room.

Kanda finally stood and headed back to the entrance to the training room.

"Ah! Yuu, where are you going?"

He didn't even bother responding to his nickname. The only thing on Kanda's mind was to defeat Mugen and get stronger.

Yoruichi didn't bother to stand up. "You know, the tenshintai won't work unless I'm there to channel my reiatsu through it. And we're done for the day, so don't count on me to come and baby-sit you."

The swordsman froze, halfway through. "Che. Fine, then; I'll go outside."

"And fight some Hollows? Can I come, too, Yuu?"

"No!"

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In reality, Kanda hadn't left to fight Hollows—though he would, if the chance presented itself. He'd been having a hard time locating them since the bean sprout disappeared. Instead, he walked along the streets of the town until he reached the park, which was surprisingly well-lit, though it was nighttime.

The little park was filled with little-kid structures that the swordsman was sure Allen would like, including a swing set, a jungle gym, and a slide. The lighting here was bright enough to read—just what he needed… but there was nothing he could sit on that wouldn't make him look like an idiot. With a sigh, Kanda settled for a seat on the swings, grimacing as he heard the chains clink. It reminded him of Skin Boric, and made his blood boil. Unconsciously, his hand rested on the handle of his Mugen.

Kanda pulled out the small, leather-bound diary that Urahara had given him, and quickly flipped through the pages. Little phrases caught his eye, though he didn't stop to read the piece in context.

He kept skimming. The words "I think I'm in love with Lenalee" appeared several times, but after a while, the phrase disappeared altogether, replaced by another one that made Kanda snort. I think I'm in love with that bastard BaKanda.

"Che. Is that how you talk about someone you're in love with…?" he grunted, but couldn't help but let a smile onto his face.

Interested, he continued to read up and down the page, as well as the ones before and after it. He saw no other mention of his name in the old pages, and refrained from letting himself feel disappointed.

"Damn, bean sprout," he said to no one in particular as he read the pages. The topics of what Allen wrote about switched abruptly; almost without warning. In one paragraph, the Exorcist wrote about his daily training; the next was about what he did with Lavi in the library, followed by an enticing account of his lunch.

Frustrated by the boy's inability to guide into the next subject, Kanda closed the journal with an audible slap before getting off the swing. As he left, he gave the park one last look, and could almost see the stupid bean sprout flipping around on the jungle gym like the little clown he was.

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YES. FINALLY, I HAVE TIME. -breathes a sigh of relief-

Well, here we go. I actually wrote this (the journal/diary thing) as a little filler for those of you who were crying for Allen 'cause well.. I missed him and wanted a little bit of Yullen right here lols. I want my Yullen, too T.T The entry's going to be the excerpt for the next chapter (which I'm almost done with... I just have to edit it.)

And yes! Allen will be coming back in like, two chapters, so hang tight!

Sora Pwns x3