A/N:

I like surprising my readers, and watching you guys take guesses on what Allen will be is fun! Hehe (: Thank you for your patience, Allen will appear in the next chapter!

Chapter Nine

Kanda stared at all the information spread out before him, his eyes widening a fraction in surprise.

"Like I said, your body is unique. That tattoo on your chest symbolises more than you think."

Kanda raised his head from the screens in front of him, settling his gaze on the Head Nurse as he listened. The Head Nurse stared at him for a while, before she softly asked, "Do you remember anything of your past? Such as the name of the laboratory you were in, or who were the people there?"

Kanda lowered his eyes, frowning as he tried to recall.

Eventually, he shook his head from side to side.

"I have memories, but none of which are what you are looking for. I do not know where the laboratory was located, nor can I remember the identities of the scientists."

"I see." The Head Nurse turned around and walked to her desk. "That's alright. You may not remember now, but you may begin to recall things sometime in the future. There's no rush."

Kanda glanced at the information pages again, unable to look away from the large, bold heading of the data screen before him.

"Regeneration, huh." He muttered.

"You have noticed it yourself, haven't you? That your body is different." The Head Nurse's voice drifted over from where she was fiddling with something, though Kanda couldn't see what it was.

He did not answer, but the Head Nurse wasn't exactly looking for one either.

"However, that ability of yours is not infinite. One day, it will surely run out." The Head Nurse turned around, holding on to something in her hands.

It was an hourglass, and a lotus flower in bloom was contained within.

"Take this as a gauge. Every time a flower petal falls, it means that your ability is slowly degrading. We have created this from analysing your body the best we could, so that you would be able to clearly see how much 'time' you have regarding the regeneration ability."

"…What happens when it runs out?" Kanda finally asked after a moment of silence.

"When your ability no longer works, you will not be able to heal life-threatening wounds on your own. If you don't receive help in time, you will, just like us ordinary humans, die from it."

With a soft grunt, Kanda nodded.

"I understand."

He reached out, taking the hourglass from the Head Nurse carefully.

"Your regeneration allows you to recover even if your body is completely destroyed. However, when it reaches that stage, there is a price you have to pay in order to heal yourself."

"A price?"

"Yes. Your life force is used to bring you back to life. Right now, we do not have an idea of where your limits are. You might be able to only bring yourself back to life once, or perhaps even a hundred times. I know that compared to when you were a child, you are now strong enough to easily defend yourself against most of the Black Order's enemies. But still, please exercise caution."

Kanda met the Head Nurse's eyes with firm and unwavering ones of his own. He did not say anything, but the look in his eyes was enough to satisfy the Head Nurse.

After leaving the infirmary, Kanda made a detour to his room, placing down the hourglass onto his only desk.

He didn't spare it a second glance as he left to meet up with Tiedoll.

"Seems like you're all already to go."

"Yes."

Tiedoll smiled, leaning against his car as he spoke to Komui.

Komui glanced around, blinking.

"Where's Kanda?"

"He was here. We were just about to leave, but a scientist came and said something about last minute checks. In order to get Kanda to follow him, he snatched the sword away while running for his life towards the science department."

Komui chuckled. "Ah, that boy is so easily to control. Just take his sword away and he will blindly follow that person wherever he may go just to get it back."

Tiedoll softly laughed.

"That's true. It's a dangerous habit though. I hope he won't do the same thing while we are travelling around."

"He will be fine, he only recklessly follows the scientists here because he feels that he can trust them, doesn't he?" Komui smiled.

"Perhaps so."

A peaceful silence fell upon the both of them for a while.

From the distance, sounds of running footsteps quickly approached.

"Ah, he's back." Komui murmured.

Tiedoll hummed, tapping the car door to open it.

The door slid open just as Kanda appeared, a thin rope-like hair ribbon in his mouth while his freed hair flowed out behind him.

Tiedoll blinked at Kanda's current state, surprised. And then he burst out into laughter.

"You don't have to hurry so much, Yuu-kun. I won't take off without you."

Kanda only grunted in reply. He pulled the hair ribbon from his mouth and swiftly tied up his hair.

"Hm?" Komui suddenly leaned forward, right into Kanda's personal space. His eyes were locked on the pale cream hair ribbon. Both ends of it were decorated with red beads that had little feather ornaments, blending in seamlessly with the rope-like appearance.

"That hair ribbon, wasn't that the one Lenalee had been making these past few days?" Komui frowned, his glasses glinting as he observed. "The one that had her shutting herself away together with the science department because she wanted 'an extremely durable' hair tie. And she was very particular about the texture being soft and gentle on the hair as well…"

"Ah, this?" Kanda raised an eyebrow. "She gave it to me."

"G-g-g-gave it to you?" Komui gasped. "Lenalee's handmade item?"

"She suddenly came up to me and snatched away the one I was using earlier, then shoved this into my hands. I wasn't allowed to return it either." Kanda's eyebrows furrowed, though he didn't sound as annoyed as he appeared to be. "Chasing after her will take too much time, so I had no choice."

Komui's eyes grew comically wide, eyebrows rising so high that it even reached his beret. And in the next instant, his face crumpled into a crying mess.

"Lenalee!" Komui aggrieved voice rang out in the quiet front yard. "Why did you give your handmade item to such an unsociable man instead of your older brother!"

Komui buried his face into his face, curling up into a ball on the ground as he wailed.

Kanda blankly stared down at him for a moment, and then decided to ignore Komui, climbing into the car after a polite nod towards a chuckling Tiedoll.

"Komui, we're leaving now." Tiedoll softly informed.

Komui straightened up, regaining composure in under a second, seeing them off with gentle eyes.

"Yes. Be careful."

Tiedoll dip his head in a bow, climbing into the car.

"Kanda." Komui suddenly called out to him, his voice taking on a serious tone.

Kanda shifted in his seat, turning his head to look at Komui.

"Though you have your Trigger to hide those ears and tail, but you are required to be within an arm's length of your sword. Any further, and the Trigger will fail. And also…" Komui lightly tapped on his chest, the hidden meaning not lost on Kanda.

"Be careful, Kanda."

Kanda nodded once, his eyes clearly telling Komui that he knew the dangers and was prepared for it.

Komui smiled.

The car door slid close, and with a hiss, it took off from the ground and flew into the air.

Komui stood there silently, watching until Tiedoll's car disappeared into the sky.

"Here."

Tiedoll handed over one of the golem he had taken from a slim pouch by his waist to Kanda.

Kanda blinked at it, accepting it with a nod of thanks.

"It's one of the Black Order's specially made golem, it will be useful since we will be travelling around."

Kanda stared at the bat-like golem, the single eye was closed as the golem was still deactivated. He shook it from side to side, but the golem did not activate. He frowned.

"Use your blood. A single drop is enough. That golem will be yours from now on, so if it's destroyed, the headquarters will notice it."

Kanda pressed a claw to his index finger, cutting deep enough for a little drop of blood to drip onto the golem. The golem's eye opened, little wings beating hard as it lifted itself into the air, floating before Kanda.

"Initiating registration." A mechanical voice came from the golem. Kanda was scanned from head to toe, and then the golem spoke again. "Process completed. Identity confirmed."

The golem flew to Kanda's side, resting on his shoulder.

"Komui isn't going to send people over to help every time a golem is destroyed, is he?" Kanda asked.

"Haha. He won't, since the Black Order members are rather hopeless at taking care of them. But he would definitely send help if it's requested just moments before the golem is destroyed."

Tiedoll chuckled then. "But seeing as how you have grown so strong, Komui wouldn't worry so much if it's your golem that's destroyed since you can take care of yourself just fine."

Kanda hummed, "I see."

With a soft exhale, he leaned back into the seat and turned his head to look out the window. As he stared at the changing landscape below, he softly enquired about their destination.

"Where are we going?"

"I was thinking of heading to Switzerland." Tiedoll answered.

"…Hm." Kanda stared at Tiedoll for a moment, enough time for Tiedoll to notice the hint of curiosity in his eyes. He smiled. "You don't know where that is, do you?"

Kanda quickly turned away, not replying at all.

Laughing, Tiedoll explained, "It's not that far off from here. It will take a few hours, but I didn't want to travel to somewhere far for your first trip out. We can go further once you're used to it."

"…I'll be fine, you don't have to restrict yourself because of me." Kanda murmured.

"It's fine, it's fine. Besides, Switzerland has some nice places that I've yet to visit too."

"…Okay."

Even though Kanda was clearly being teased, his face was relaxed, devoid of its usual frown. He stuck close to the window, watching the changing scenery with barely concealed interest.

The corners of Tiedoll's lips pulled up into a large grin as he watched Kanda.

Deciding against teasing Kanda more, he sank into his seat comfortably. He was excited, to say the least, because this was Kanda's first time going out to see the world. His reactions were cute too. It was like having an apprentice, though Kanda would probably never pick up a pencil to draw.

A soft chuckle left his lips as he leisurely watched the passing scenery.